Blériot XI
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| XI | |
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| Type | Civil tourer/trainer/military |
| Manufacturer | Louis Blériot |
| Designed by | Louis Blériot and Raymond Saulnier |
| Maiden flight | 23 January 1909 |
Designed by Louis Blériot and Raymond Saulnier (of Morane-Saulnier), the Blériot XI was a light and sleek monoplane constructed of oak and poplar. The flying surfaces were covered with cloth. The aircraft's original configuration included a R.E.P. engine spinning a four blade metal propeller which proved to be unsatisfactory. Blériot decided to use a basically simple 25 horsepower Anzani 3 cylinder radial engine with much better results. Blériot could be assured of the Anzani 3W engine running continuously for an hour. The Blériot XI also had some ground-breaking technologies such as castering landing gear, allowing for crosswind landings. Wing warping (instead of ailerons) controlled the plane's roll. The tail section of the Blériot XI included a horizontal stabilizer with an elevator, and a rudder, but no vertical stabilizer. Unintentionally, Blériot added lateral stability to the plane by leaving the aft section of the fuselage uncovered. This created enough drag to add stability to the aircraft's flight characteristics.
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[edit] The Channel Crossing
The plane gained immortality on July 25, 1909 when Louis Blériot successfully crossed the English Channel from Calais to Dover in 36.5 minutes. For several days bad weather grounded Blériot and his opponent Hubert Latham who flew an Antoinette monoplane. That morning, Blériot awoke, albeit in a bad mood, reportedly due to previously scorching his foot on an engine exhaust, to conditions fair enough to fly in. When Blériot took off, Latham's camp was still quiet; Latham had overslept. Fighting fog and bad weather, Blériot did not even have a compass to guide his crossing. It is said that the Anzani engine made the flight only with the aid of a brief rain shower to cool it off. Letting the aircraft guide itself, Blériot eventually saw the grey line of the English coast. Approaching closer and closer he spotted a French reporter waving the French flag marking the landing spot. Blériot made a very rough "pancake" landing during which the landing gear collapsed, but he walked away, winning the £1000 prize awarded by the Daily Mail.
[edit] Further development
After the successful crossing of the channel, there was a great demand for the Blériot XI. Blériot began to turn his attention from flying to the aircraft manufacturing business. By September 1909 Blériot had received orders for 101 aircraft. Later versions of the Blériot XI used various engines including more powerful Gnome rotary engines and updated Anzani engines. Blériot marketed the aircraft in four categories: trainers, sport or touring models, military aircraft, and racing or exhibition machines. Some notable models in the "Type Onze" series:
- Blerior XI (mod)
- This model was used to established a new European endurance record of 36 minutes 55 seconds on the 13 July 1909, it also won a cross-country prize.
- Blériot XI Militaire
- Military single-seater, powered by a 50 h.p. Gnome engine.
- Blériot XI Artillerie
- Very similar to the Militaire version.
- Blériot XI-2
- Standard tandem 2-seat touring, reconnaissance, training model, powered by a 70-hp (52-kW) Gnome 7B rotary piston engine.
- Blériot XI-2 bis "côté-à-côté"
- Larger, 2-seat model, with side-by-side seating.
- Blériot XI-2 Hydroaeroplane
- Mounted on floats with a larger wing area.
- Blériot XI-2 Artillerie
- Military 2-seat model, powered by a 70 h.p. (52-kW) Gnome rotary piston engine.
- Blériot XI-2 Génie
- Military version, designed for easy transport, it could be broken down/reassembled in 25 minutes.
- Blériot XI-2 BG
- Two-seat high-wing parasol model.
- Blériot XI-3
- Tandem 3-seat model, powered by a 140 h.p. Gnome engine.
- Bleriot XI E1
- Single-seat training version.
- Bleriot XI R1
- "Rouleur" or ground training aircraft, fitted with clipped wings.
[edit] Military use
The first Bleriot XIs entered military service in Italy and France in 1910 and a year later some of those were used in action by Italy in North Africa and in Mexico.[1] The Royal Flying Corps received its first Bleriots in 1912. During the early stages of World War I, eight French, six British and six Italian squadrons operated various military versions of the aircraft, mainly in observation duties but also as trainers, and in case of single-seaters, as light bombers with a bomb load of up to 25 kg.
[edit] Famous Blériot Monoplane pilots
- Adolphe Pégoud - First man to demonstrate the full aerobatic potential of the aeroplane, flying a loop with it in 1913. Together with John Domenjoz and Edmond Perreyon he successfully assembled what is thought of as the first air show.
- Harriet Quimby - First licensed female pilot in the United States. First female to solo the English Channel.
- Earle Ovington - First air-mail pilot in the United States.
- Alfred Leblanc - Broke the flight airspeed record in 1910 while flying the Blériot XI. His speed was calculated at 68.20 mph (109.8 km/h).
- Jorge Chavez - French-Peruvian aviator who flew through the Alps in 1910. The flight resulted in a fatal crash.
- John Domenjoz - Performed aerobatics in South - Central & North America in 1914-1918. His Bleriot-XI is shown at the National Air & Space Museum, Washington.
- Rene Simon - In February 1911, the Mexican government engaged Rene Simon[1], a member of an aerial circus touring the south-western United States, to reconnoiter rebel positions near the border city of Juarez.[2]
[edit] Military operators
- Australian Flying Corps
- Central Flying School AFC at Point Cook, Victoria
.svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png)
Belgium
Bulgaria
Chile
Denmark
France.svg/22px-Flag_of_Greece_(1828-1978).svg.png)
Greece
Guatemala
Italy
Japan
Mexico
New Zealand - one aircraft only.
Romania
Russia.svg/22px-Flag_of_Serbia_(1882-1918).svg.png)
Serbia
Sweden
Switzerland
Ottoman Empire
United Kingdom
[edit] Survivors
A flyable 1909-built Blériot XI is on display at the Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, England. It is the world's oldest airworthy airplane.
[edit] Specifications (Blériot XI)
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.Data from {name of first source}
General characteristics
- Crew: one, pilot
- Length: 7.62 m (25 ft 0 in)
- Wingspan: 7.79 m (25 ft 7 in)
- Height: 2.69 m (8 ft 10 in)
- Wing area: 14 m² (150 ft²)
- Empty weight: 230 kg (507 lb)
- Powerplant: 1× Anzani 3-cylinder fan-type, or 120º cylinder angle "true radial"., 16-19 kW (22-25 hp)
- * Propeller: Chauvière Intégrale
- Diameter: 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)
- Thrust: 105 kg @ 1,450 rpm (231.5 lb @ 1,450 rpm)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 75.6 km/h (41 knots, 47 mph)
[edit] External links
- Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Link to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome website, which has videos of a restored Blériot XI flying. This Blériot XI (US resigtration number N60094), powered with an original three cylinder Anzani radial engine, is the second oldest flying aircraft in the world.
- A Blériot XI at Maurice Dufresne Museum, France
- John Domenjoz, barnstormer & arerobatics
[edit] References
- Munson, Kenneth - Bombers, Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft 1914 - 1919 ISBN 0 7537 0918 X
- Crouch, Tom D. Blériot XI: The Story of a Classic Aircraft. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982.
- A Daring Flight. Dir. Carl Charlson. DVD. WGBH Boston Video, 2005.
- Blériot XI Channel Crosser Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. URL accessed on 2006-04-12.
- PBS Chasing the Sun - PBS. URL accessed on 2006-04-12.
- Louis Blériot – Developer of Commercial and Military Aircraft US Centennial of Flight Commission. URL accessed on 2006-04-12.
[edit] See also
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