Bleriot XI
| Blériot XI | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Thulin A (licence-built Blériot XI) | |
| Role | Civil tourer/trainer/military |
| Manufacturer | Louis Blériot |
| Designer | Louis Blériot and Raymond Saulnier |
| First flight | 23 January 1909 |
The Blériot XI is a French aircraft. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft on 25 July 1909. This achievement is one of the most famous accomplishments of the pioneer era of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in history but also assured the future of his aircraft manufacturing business. The event caused a major reappraisal of the importance of aviation; the English newspaper The Daily Express led its story of the flight with the headline "Britain is no longer an Island".
It was produced in both single- and two-seat versions, powered by a number of different engines and was widely used for competition and training purposes. Military versions were bought by many countries, continuing in service until after the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Two restored examples — one in the United Kingdom and one in the United States — of original Blériot XI aircraft are thought to be the two oldest flyable aircraft in the world.
The Blériot XI, largely designed by Raymond Saulnier, was a development of the Blériot VIII, which Blériot had flown successfully in 1908. Like its predecessor, it was a tractor-configuration monoplane with a partially covered box-girder fuselage built from ash with wire cross bracing. The principal difference was the use of wing warping for lateral control. The tail surfaces consisted of a small balanced "all-moving" rudder mounted on the rearmost vertical member of the fuselage and a horizontal tailplane mounted under the lower longerons. This had elevator surfaces making up the outermost part of the fixed horizontal surface; these "tip elevators" were linked by a torque tube running through the inner section. The bracing and warping wires were attached to a dorsal cabane consisting of a pair of inverted V struts with their apexes connected by a longitudinal tube and an inverted four-sided pyramidal ventral cabane, also of steel tubing, below. When first built it had a wingspan of 7 m (23 ft) and a small teardrop-shaped fin mounted on the cabane, which was later removed.
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