Bleriot XI monoplane (model)
| Star Exhibit |
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Bleriot XI monoplane (model)
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| location: |
| Arch Two , Area 16 Aviation (display) |
| Shelf 4 |
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A cased 1:48 scale model of the wooden "box-framed" "Bleriot XI" or "Onze", built by Philip Veale.
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History
Bleriot's plane was first shown in 1908 and first publicly flown in 1909.
The plane was designed by Louis Blériot and Raymond Saulnier, and had a simple square cross-sectioned cloth-covered body. Although it lacked a vertical stabiliser (or "tail", which normally performs a similar aerodynamic function to the fins at the back of some rockets, or the trailing stick on a firework), the decision to not bother covering the rear of the aircraft's box frame inadvertently provided enough aerodynamic drag on the rear of the aircraft to keep it stable in flight.
Louis Blériot and his "XI" became world-famous when they won the Daily Mail's challenge (and thousand-pound prize) to become the first aircraft to fly across the English Channel, in 1909. Bleriot then switched to the commercial production of aircraft based on the XI, some of which became the first airplanes to see military action.
External links
- poster, AEROPLANES BLERIOT. G. Borel and Co. 25 Rue Brunel, Paris (posters.navtech.aero)
- A Bleriot XI at the "Cradle of Aviation" Museum, Long Island, NY.
- The original XI that made the Channel crossing in 1909, now at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris
- http://www.shuttleworth.org/shuttleworth-collection/aircraft-details.asp?ID=1 A 1909 XI in the Shuttlesworth Collection, Old Warden Aerodrome, UK]
Video
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