Blériot V

Blériot V
Role	Experimental monoplane
Manufacturer	Louis Blériot
Designer	Louis Blériot
First flight	5 April 1907
Number built	1

The Blériot V was an early French aircraft built by Louis Blériot in 1907, and was one of the first monoplanes,^[1] ). Although Blériot only achieved a couple of short flights in it, the second resulting in a crash which damaged the aircraft beyond repair, it was the first of his experimental aircraft to achieve any measure of success.

Background

Louis Blériot had previously worked in partnership with Gabriel Voisin. These aircraft were not successful, and after the last of these machines, the Bleriot IV, had been damaged in an attempt to fly it in November 1906 the partnership was dissolved and Blériot set up Recherches Aéronautiques Louis Blériot to carry out his experiments with aircraft.

Design and development

The design of the Blériot V had no resemblance to his earlier aircraft, which had been biplanes. It was a canard configuration pusher monoplane with a braced wooden box-girder fuselage covered with varnished silk, at the rear of which was the 24 hp (18 kW) Antoinette water-cooled V-8 engine. The wings, which could be folded upwards for transport and had no wire bracing, were made of wood covered with varnished paper and were of a complex design probably inspired by the seeds of the Zanonia tree. There was a small elevator mounted at the front of the fuselage as well as a rectangular rudder mounted underneath, which also served as a nose skid. The main undercarriage consisted of a pair of bicycle wheels set close together under the wing.

It was first tried on 21 March 1907,^[2] when Blériot made a single taxying trial which ended in the aircraft slewing round, causing the undercarriage to collapse and damaging the rudder and elevator. Two further ground trials were made, one on 26 March, causing similar damage, and another on 2 April, when the propeller was damaged. After this trial Blériot replaced the frontal rudder with a semi-circular rudder behind the propeller, and added a fin to the underside of the fuselage in front of the wing. On 5 April a further trial was made, and after a 100 m (305 ft) run the machine briefly left the ground. Concerned about his ability to control the aircraft in the stiff breeze that was blowing, Blériot cut the engine and landed, yet again damaging the undercarriage slightly. He had only flown around 6 m (20 ft), but nevertheless this was the first time one of his aircraft had successfully flown. More trials followed, the last on 19 April when, traveling at a speed of around 50 kph (30 mph), the aircraft left the ground, Blériot over-responded when the nose began to rise and the machine hit the ground nose–first and somersaulted. The machine was largely destroyed, but Blériot was by great good fortune unhurt.^[3] The engine of the aircraft was immediately behind his seat, and he was very lucky not to have been crushed by it.

Specifications

Data from Jane^[4]

General characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Length: 8.50 m (27 ft 11 in)
• Wingspan: 7.80 m (25 ft 7 in)
• Wing area: 13.0 m² (140 ft²)
• Gross weight: 236 kg (520 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Antoinette liquid-cooled V8 engine, 18 kW (24 hp) each

Performance

Notes

1. "Louis Bleriot" by The Library of Congress, retrieved October 4, 2006
2. Elliott 2000 p.53
3. Elliott 2000 p.56
4. Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 161.

References

• Elliott, Brian A. Blériot, Herald of an Age Stroud: Tempus, 2000. ISBN 0-7524-1739-8
• Opdycke, Leonard E. French Aeroplanes Before the Great War Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1999. ISBN 0-7643-0752-5