The Blériot XI is a French aircraft from the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by

Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of t ...

to make the first flight across the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This 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 The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' led its story of the flight with the headline "Britain is no longer an Island." The aircraft was produced in both single- and two-seat versions, powered by several 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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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.

Design

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 A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

with a partially covered box-girder

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

built from ash with wire cross-bracing. The principal difference was the use of

wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft or kite. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposit ...

for lateral control. The tail surfaces consisted of a small balanced all-moving

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

mounted on the rearmost vertical member of the fuselage and a horizontal

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters ...

mounted under the lower longerons. This had

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

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, five-component " house-roof" shaped cabane consisting of a pair of inverted V struts with their apices 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 The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

of and a small teardrop-shaped fin mounted on the cabane, which was later removed. Like its predecessor, it had the engine mounted directly in front of the

leading edge The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air;Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil sectio ...

of the wing and the main undercarriage was also like that of the Type VIII, with the wheels mounted in castering trailing arms which could slide up and down steel tubes, the movement being sprung by

bungee cord file:Bungee Cord PICT6882a.jpg, Bungee cords equipped with metal hooks A bungee cord (sometimes spelled bungie; also known as a shock cord or an ocky strap) is an elastomer, elastic cord composed of one or more elastic strands forming a core, usua ...

s. This simple and ingenious design allowed

crosswind landing In aviation, a crosswind landing is a landing maneuver in which a significant component of the prevailing wind is perpendicular to the runway center line. Significance Aircraft in flight are subject to the direction of the winds in which the a ...

s with less risk of damage. A sprung tailwheel was fitted to the rear fuselage in front of the tailplane, with a similar castering arrangement. When shown at the Paris Aero Salon in December 1908, the aircraft was powered by a seven-cylinder R.E.P. engine driving a four-bladed paddle-type propeller. The aircraft was first flown at Issy-les-Moulineaux on 23 January 1909. Although the aircraft handled well, the engine proved extremely unreliable and, at the suggestion of his mechanic, Ferdinand Collin, Blériot made contact with Alessandro Anzani, a famous motorcycle racer whose successes were due to the engines that he made, and who had recently entered the field of aero-engine manufacture. On 27 May 1909, a Anzani 3-cylinder fan-configuration (semi-radial) engine was fitted. The propeller was also replaced with a Chauvière ''Intégrale'' two-bladed scimitar propeller made from laminated walnut wood. This propeller design was a major advance in French aircraft technology and was the first European propeller to rival the efficiency of the propellers used by the

Wright Brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

. During early July, Blériot was occupied with flight trials of a new aircraft, the two-seater Type XII, but resumed flying the Type XI on 18 July. By then, the small cabane fin had been removed and the wingspan increased by . On 26 June, he managed a flight lasting 36 minutes 55 seconds, and on 13 July, Blériot won the Aero Club de France's first ''Prix du Voyage'' with a flight between Etampes and

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and The Blériot XI gained lasting fame on 25 July 1909, when Blériot crossed the

from

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

, winning a £1,000 (equivalent to £115,000 in 2018) prize awarded by the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

''. For several days, high winds had grounded Blériot and his rivals: Hubert Latham, who flew an Antoinette monoplane, and Count de Lambert, who brought two Wright biplanes. On 25 July, when the wind had dropped in the morning and the skies had cleared, Blériot took off at sunrise. Flying without the aid of a compass, he deviated to the east of his intended course, but, nonetheless, spotted the English coast to his left. Battling turbulent wind conditions, Blériot made a heavy "pancake" landing, nearly collapsing the undercarriage and shattering one blade of the propeller, but he was unhurt. The flight had taken 36.5 minutes and made Blériot a celebrity, instantly resulting in many orders for copies of his aircraft. The aircraft, which never flew again, was hurriedly repaired and put on display at

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...

department store in London. It was later displayed outside the offices of the French newspaper '' Le Matin'' and eventually bought by the '' Musee des Arts et Metiers'' in Paris.

Subsequent history

After the successful crossing of the

, there was a great demand for Blériot XIs. By the end of September 1909, orders had been received for 103 aircraft. After an accident at an aviation meeting in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in December 1909, Blériot gave up competition flying, and the company's entries for competitions were flown by other pilots, including Alfred Leblanc, who had managed the logistics of the cross-channel flight, and subsequently bought the first production Type XI, going on to become one of the chief instructors at the flying schools established by Blériot. In February 1912 the future of the Type XI was threatened by the French army placing a ban on the use of all monoplanes. This was the result of a series of accidents in which Blériot aircraft had suffered wing failure in flight. The first of these incidents had occurred on 4 January 1910, killing

Léon Delagrange Ferdinand Marie Léon Delagrange (; 13 March 1872 – 4 January 1910) was a French sculptor and pioneering aviator. Early years Léon Delagrange was born on 13 March 1872 in Orléans, France, the son of a textile factory owner. As a teenager ...

, and was generally attributed to the fact that Delagrange had fitted an over-powerful engine, so overstressing the airframe. A similar accident had killed Peruvian pilot Jorge Chavez at the end of 1910 at the end of the first flight over the Alps, and in response to this the wing spars of the Blériot had been strengthened. A later accident prompted further strengthening of the spars.Monoplane Failures
''Flight'' 30 March 1912 Blériot produced a report for the French government which came to the conclusion that the problem was not the strength of the wing spars but a failure to take into account the amount of downward force to which aircraft wings could be subjected, and that the problem could be solved by increasing the strength of the upper bracing wires. This analysis was accepted, and Blériot's prompt and thorough response to the problem enhanced rather than damaged his reputation.

Further development

The Type XI remained in production until the outbreak of the First World War, and a number of variations were produced. Various types of engine were fitted, including the 120° Y-configuration, "full radial" three-cylinder Anzani (the restored example at

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a living museum in Red Hook, New York, Red Hook, New York, adjacent to the town of Rhinebeck (town), New York, Rhinebeck. Founded in 1958, it owns many examples of airworthy aircraft from the Aviation in the pioneer ...

still flies with this) and the and , seven-cylinder

Gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its ...

s. Both single and two-seat versions were built, and there were variations in wingspan and fuselage length. In later aircraft the tip elevators were replaced by a more conventional trailing edge elevator, the tailwheel was replaced by a skid, and the former "house-roof" five-member dorsal cabane was replaced by a simpler, four-sided pyramidally framed unit similar to the ventral arrangement for the later rotary-powered versions. Blériot marketed the aircraft in four categories: trainers, sport or touring models, military aircraft, and racing or exhibition aircraft.

Civilian use

The Type XI took part in many competitions and races. In August 1910 Leblanc won the '' Circuit de l'Est'' race, and another Blériot flown by Émile Aubrun was the only other aircraft to finish the course. In October 1910, Claude Grahame-White won the second competition for the Gordon Bennett Trophy flying a Type XI fitted with a Gnome, beating a similar aircraft flown by Leblanc, which force-landed on the last lap. During the race Leblanc had established a new world speed record. In 1911, Andre Beaumont won the Circuit of Europe in a Type XI and another, flown by Roland Garros, came second. Louis Blériot established his first flying school at Etampes near

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

in 1909. Another was started at Pau, where the climate made year-round flying more practical, in early 1910 and in September 1910 a third was established at Hendon Aerodrome near London. A considerable number of pilots were trained: by 1914 nearly 1,000 pilots had gained their ''Aero Club de France'' license at the Blériot schools, around half the total number of licences issued. Flight training was offered free to those who had bought a Blériot aircraft: for others, it initially cost 2,000 francs, this being reduced to 800 francs in 1912. A gifted pupil favoured by good weather could gain his license in as little as eight days, although for some it took as long as six weeks. There were no dual-control aircraft in these early days, training simply consisting of basic instruction on the use of the controls followed by solo taxying exercises, progressing to short straight-line flights and then to circuits. To gain a license, a pilot had to make three circular flights of more than 5 km (3 mi), landing within of a designated point.

Military use

The first Blériot XIs entered military service in Italy and France in 1910, and a year later some were used by Italy in North Africa (the first use of heavier-than-air aircraft in a war) and in Mexico. The British

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

received its first Blériots in 1912. During the early stages of

eight French, six British and six Italian squadrons operated various military versions of the aircraft, mainly for

observation Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the percep ...

duties but also as trainers, and in the case of single-seaters as light bombers with a bomb load of up to 25 kg.

Famous Blériot monoplane pilots

* Oskar Bider – Swiss aviator who flew over the Pyrenees and the Alps in 1913. * Baron Carl Cederström, who made the first flight of a heavier-than-air craft in Norway on 14 October 1910. He made a flight of 23 minutes and reached a height of 300 metres (983.9 feet). * Jorge Chavez – French-Peruvian aviator who crossed the Alps in 1910, but crashed on arrival and was killed. * Jean Conneau (André Beaumont) In 1911 won the Paris-Rome race, the ''Circuit d'Europe'' (Tour of Europe) on 7 July and the Daily Mail Circuit of Britain Race on 26 July 1911. * Antal Lányi (Austro-Hungarian Monarchy) On 28 August 1911 Antal Lányi successfully flew over the Lake Balaton (biggest lake of Europe) from Badacsony to Fonyód with a Blériot XI airplane. * Denys Corbett-Wilson – Anglo-Irish aviator who made the first successful flight from Britain to Ireland in April 1912. * Leon Delagrange – One of the first people to fly an aircraft in France, killed on 4 January 1910 flying a Blériot XI when a wing failed. *Carlo Piazza – On 22/23 October 1911, Captain Piazza of the

Italian Royal Army The Royal Italian Army () (RE) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfredo Fanti signed a decree c ...

Air Services conducted the first aerial reconnaissance flight, between Tripoli and Ain Zara during the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

. * John Domenjoz (1886–1952) – Performed aerobatics in South, Central and North America in 1914–1918. His Gnome rotary-powered Blériot-XI is displayed at the National Air & Space Museum, Washington. * Roland Garros – Won second place in the 1911 Circuit of Europe race, and set two world altitude records in 1912 in an adapted Type XI, flying to on 6 September 1912 * Claude Grahame-White Won the 1910 Gordon Bennett Trophy race, held in New York, flying a Blériot * Eugène Gilbert – Went to the Blériot school in 1910 after having built his own small unsuccessful aircraft in 1909. During a flight across the Pyrenees Mountains in the 1911 Paris to Madrid air race he and his Blériot XI were attacked by a large eagle, which Gilbert drove off by firing a pistol. * Tryggve Gran – Norwegian aviator, first to cross the North Sea from Scotland to Norway, on 30 July 1914. The flight set a record for the longest flight over open water, a distance of taking 4 hours and 10 minutes. * Maurice Guillaux – French aviator, visited Australia April–October 1914. Flew Australia's first air mail and air freight from Melbourne to Sydney, 16–18 July 1914. * Gustav Hamel – Flew the world's first regular airmail service between Hendon and Windsor in September 1911. * Vasily Kamensky – a famous Russian Futurist poet, one of the pioneering aviators of Russia. * Jan Kašpar – Czech aviator, first person to fly in

Czech lands The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands (, ) is a historical-geographical term which denotes the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia out of which Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic and Slovakia, were formed. ...

on 16 April 1910. * Hubert Le Blon – A former racing car driver who took up aviation and designed his own monoplane. On 2 April 1910, flying a Bleriot XI, he became the second (after Delagrange) fatality in the type after crashing in San Sebastian, Spain. * Alfred Leblanc – Broke the

flight airspeed record An air speed record is the highest airspeed attained by an aircraft of a particular class. The rules for all official aviation records are defined by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which also ratifies any claims. Speed records ...

on 29 October 1910 while flying a Blériot XI. His speed was calculated at 68.20 mph (109.76 km/h): on 11 April 1911 he raised the record to 111.8 km/h * Bernetta Miller – Fifth licensed woman pilot in the U.S. Chosen as pilot to demonstrate the Moisant-Bleriot monoplane to the U.S. Army in 1912. * Jan Olieslagers (1883–1942) – Lieutenant in the Belgian Army during the First World War. * Earle Ovington – First airmail pilot in the United States, used a Blériot XI to carry a sack of mail from

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 23,272 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead ...

to Mineola, NY * Adolphe Pégoud – First man to demonstrate the full aerobatic potential of the Blériot XI, flying a loop with it in 1913. Together with John Domenjoz and Edmond Perreyon, he successfully created what is considered the first

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

. * Harriet Quimby – First licensed female pilot in the United States; first female to fly the English Channel solo. Died on 1 July 1912 when she and her passenger were ejected from her new Blériot XI-2. * Rene Simon – In February 1911 the Mexican government engaged Rene Simon, a member of an aerial circus touring the southwestern United States, to reconnoiter rebel positions near the border city of Juarez. * Emile Taddéoli – Swiss aviator who first flew on 22 March 1910, in his newly bought Blériot XI, and flew about during the next five years, using various aircraft, among them the Blériot XI, Morane-Borel monoplane, Dufaux 4, Dufaux 5 and SIAI S.13 seaplane. * Ahmet Ali Çelikten – Ottoman-born Turkish

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

who was the first black pilot in aviation history.

Variants

;Blériot XI (REP) :1908, the first Type XI, powered by a REP engine, displayed at the 1908 Paris Salon Exposition, first flown at Issy on 18 January 1909. ;Blériot XI (Anzani) :1909, the first aircraft re-engined with a Anzani engine and with wings enlarged from . Fitted with a flotation bag for Blériot's cross channel flight. ;Blériot XI ''Militaire'' :Military single-seater, powered by a Gnome engine. ;Blériot XI ''Artillerie'' :Very similar to the ''Militaire'' version, but with a fuselage divided into two sections so that it could be folded for transport. ;Blériot XI-1 ''Artillerie'' :Single-seater powered by a Gnome 7 Omega, with collapsible fuselage for transportation. ;Blériot XI E1 :Single-seat training version. ;Blériot XI Type Ecole : A trainer with considerable wing dihedral, looped cane tailskid, tip elevators and other modifications. ;Blériot XI R1 ''Pinguin'' :''Rouleur'' or ground training aircraft, fitted with clipped wings and a wide-track undercarriage with a pair of forward-projecting skids to prevent nose-overs. Some examples were fitted with a Anzani engine and others with old Gnome engines that were no longer producing their full power output. ;Blériot XI (1912) :From March 1912 with two-piece elevators and high fuselage skid. ;Blériot XI (1913) :As for Blériot XI (1912) with landing gear re-inforcements removed, powered by a Clerget 7Y ;Blériot XI Parasol: :aka Brevet-gouin, modified by Lieutenant Gouin and Henri Chazal with a parasol wing and split airbrake/rudder. ;Blériot XIbis :In January 1910 the bis introduced more conventional tail feathers and elliptical elevators with a half-cowled Gnome engine. ;Blériot XI-2 Tandem :Standard tandem 2-seat touring, reconnaissance, training model, powered by a Gnome 7 Gamma rotary piston engine. ;Blériot XI-2 bis "''côte-à-côte''" Bleriot

:February 1910 2-seat model, with side-by-side seating and a non-lifting triangular tailplane with semi-elliptical trailing-edge elevators, with several variations such as floats extended nose, modified tail-skid and other changes. (Length , Wingspan ;Blériot XI-2 ''Hydroaeroplane'' : Two-seater

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

with wingspan of powered by a Rhône engine. First flown with an extended rudder with a float on the bottom: this was later replaced by a standard rudder and a float fitted under the rear fuselage. ;Blériot XI-2 ''Artillerie'' :Military Two-seater powered by a Gnome 7 Gamma, with modified rudder and undercarriage. Two aircraft or versions of the same aircraft with differing elevators. ;Blériot XI-2 ''Génie'' :Military version designed for easy transport, powered by a Gnome 7 Gamma, it could be broken down/reassembled in 25 minutes. ;Blériot XI-2 ''Vision totale'' :An XI-2 modified with a parasol wing in July 1914, also known as XI Brevet-Gouin. ;Blériot XI-2 ''Hauteur'' :Powered by an Gnome rotary piston engine and used by Roland Garros in altitude record flights in August 1912 and March 1913. ;Blériot XI-2 BG :Two-seat high-wing parasol model. ;Blériot XI-3 Concours Militaire :Tandem 3-seat model, powered by a twin-row 14-cylinder, Gnome 14 Gamma-Gamma rotary engine. Span , length ;Thulin A :Licence-built in Sweden

Military operators

; *

Argentine Air Force The Argentine Air Force (, or simply ''FAA'') is the air force of Argentina and one of three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. In 2018, it had 13,837 military and 6,900 civilian personnel. FAA commander in chief is Brigadie ...

; *

Australian Flying Corps The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during World War I, and the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The AFC was established in 1912, though it was not until ...

** Central Flying School AFC at Point Cook, Victoria ; * Belgian Air Component ; *

Bolivian Air Force The Bolivian Air Force (BAF; or 'FAB') is the air force of Bolivia and branch of the Bolivian Armed Forces. History By 1938 the Bolivian air force consisted of about 60 aircraft ( Curtiss Hawk fighters, Curtiss T-32 Condor II and Junkers ...

; *

Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...

; * Bulgarian Air Force ; *

Chilean Air Force The Chilean Air Force () is the air force of Chile and branch of the Chilean military. History The first step towards the current FACh is taken by Lieutenant Colonel, Teniente Coronel training as a pilot in France. Although a local academy was c ...

; *

Royal Danish Air Force The Royal Danish Air Force () (RDAF) is the aerial warfare force of the Kingdom of Denmark and one of the four branches of the Danish Armed Forces. Initially being components of the Army and the Navy, it was made a separate service in 1950. I ...

; *

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

; *

Hellenic Air Force The Hellenic Air Force (HAF; , sometimes abbreviated as ΠΑ) is the air force of Greece (''Hellenic'' being the endonym for ''Greek'' in the Greek language). It is considered to be one of the largest air forces in NATO, and is globally placed 1 ...

; * Guatemalan Air Force ; * Corpo Aeronautico Militare ; *

Imperial Japanese Army Air Service The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ) was the Military aviation, aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground ...

; *

Mexican Air Force The Mexican Air Force (FAM; ) is the air service branch of the Mexican Armed Forces. It is a component of the Mexican Army and as such overseen by the National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA). The objective of the FAM is to defend the integrity, in ...

;: Norwegian Army Air Service. One only: Tryggve Gran's ;:

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

. One XI 2 Monoplane was in service from 1913 to 1914. The aircraft was named "Britiania", it was New Zealand's first military aircraft; ; *

Romanian Air Corps The Romanian Air Corps or Aviation Corps (RAC) () was the air arm of the Romanian army until the formation of the Romanian Air Force. It was established on 1 April 1913 as the Military Aeronautics Service () and subordinated to the Engineer Insp ...

; *

Imperial Russian Air Service The Imperial Russian Air Service () was an air force founded in 1912 for Russian Empire, Imperial Russia."''12 августа 1912 года приказом по военному ведомству вопросы воздухоплавания ...

;

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* Serbian Air Force and Air Defense ; *

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

; *

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (; ; ; ) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914, three days after the outbreak of World War I, as a part of the Swiss Army, army and in October 1936 as an independent service. In peaceti ...

; * Ottoman Aviation squadrons RFC Bleriot

; *

** No. 2 Squadron RFC ** No. 3 Squadron RFC ** No. 4 Squadron RFC ** No. 5 Squadron RFC ** No. 6 Squadron RFC ** No. 9 Squadron RFC ** No. 10 Squadron RFC ** No. 16 Squadron RFC ** No. 23 Squadron RFC ** No. 24 Squadron RFC ; * Uruguayan Air Force

Surviving aircraft

In addition to the aircraft used by Louis Blériot to make his cross-channel flight in 1909, on display in the

Musée des Arts et Métiers The Musée des Arts et Métiers (; English: Museum of Arts and Crafts) is an industrial design museum in Paris that houses the collection of the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, which was founded in 1794 as a repository for the preser ...

in Paris, a number of examples have been preserved. Both the British and American restored-to-airworthiness examples, each now over a century old and believed to be the two oldest flyable aircraft anywhere on Earth, are usually only "hopped" for short distances due to their uniqueness.

Airworthy aircraft

* 14 – Bleriot XI airworthy at the Shuttleworth Collection in Old Warden, Bedfordshire. Built in 1909 and now with the British civil registration G-AANG, this is the world's oldest airworthy aircraft. It is powered by a three-cylinder "W form" Anzani engine. * 56 – Bleriot XI airworthy at the

Red Hook, New York Red Hook is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 9,953 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 11,319 in 2010. The name is supposedly derived from the red foliage on trees on a small strip of land on the H ...

. It is powered by a 120°-angle regular "radial" Anzani three-cylinder engine and bears U.S. civil registration N60094. The front and back thirds of the fuselage are original. * 1381 – Bleriot XI-2 bis on display at the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm. A Blériot XI, the oldest airworthy museum aircraft in Sweden, manufactured in 1918 under licence by AETA, Enoch Thulins Aeroplane Works, in Landskrona, Sweden, as type Thulin A, has been owned by the museum since 1928. Following a two-year restoration by Mikael Carlson, the Blériot XI made what was probably its maiden flight to celebrate the Centenary of Flight in Sweden, at the Stockholm Festival of Flight on 20–22 August 2010. Registered with the Swedish Civil Air Traffic Authority in 2010 as SE-AEC, the Blériot uses its original rotary engine, a Thulin-built copy of the

Gnome Omega The Gnome 7 Omega (commonly called the Gnome 50 hp) is a French seven-cylinder, air-cooled aero engine produced by Gnome et Rhône. It was shown at the Paris Aero Salon held in December 1908 and was first flown in 1909. It was the world's ...

. * Reproduction – Bleriot XI airworthy at the Montreal Aviation Museum in

Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue () is an Greater Montreal, on-island suburb located at the western tip of the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is the second oldest community in Montreal's West Island, having been founded as a parish ...

. It is a reproduction of the Blériot XI "Le Scarabée", flown over Montreal by Count Jacques de Lesseps in 1910, built by volunteers at the museum. They spent nearly 15 years building this exacting reproduction from original blueprints; its first flight took place in September 2014. * Reproduction – Bleriot IX airworthy with Eric A. Presten in Vineburg, California.

Display aircraft

* 9 – Bleriot XI on static display at the New England Air Museum in

Windsor Locks, Connecticut Windsor Locks is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was ...

. It was built in 1911 by Ernest Hall and has a Detroit Aero engine. * 76 – Bleriot XI on static display at the National Technical Museum in Prague. It was used by Jan Kašpar. * 153 – Bleriot XI on static display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in

. It was originally purchased by

Rodman Wanamaker Lewis Rodman Wanamaker (February 13, 1863 – March 9, 1928) was an American businessman and heir to the Wanamaker's department store fortune. In addition to operating stores in Philadelphia, New York City, and Paris, he was a patron of the ar ...

, is the first aircraft to be imported into America, and was acquired from the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. * 164 – Bleriot XI on static display at the Royal Air Force Museum London in London. It has a reproduction fuselage and a six-cylinder Anzani engine installed. * 686 – Bleriot XI-2 on static display at the

Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace The Musée de l'air et de l'espace (, ) is a French aerospace museum, located at the south-eastern edge of Paris–Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris, and in the Communes of France, commune of Le Bourget. It was inaugurated in 1919 after a propo ...

in Paris. * 3856 – Bleriot XI on static display at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Red Hook, New York. It was built in the US in 1911 by the American Aeroplane & Supply House of

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) on Long Island, in New York, United States. The town's combined population was 793,409 at the 2020 census. It occupies the s ...

as a "cross-country" longer-ranged version with a copper ventral fuel tank, and had been in storage at least since November 1915 before its discovery in 1963, and restored in 1975–76 by Cole Palen. It was previously flown at the museum with its pre- ''Monosoupape'', seven-cylinder 70 HP Gnome engine. It was on display for a period of time at the USS Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City. * Unknown ID – Bleriot XI on static display at the

in Paris. This is the original Type XI aircraft that Louis Blériot flew across the English Channel on 25 July 1909. * Unknown ID – Bleriot XI on static display at the

in Paris. * Unknown ID – Bleriot XI on static display at the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

in Washington, D.C. This aircraft was manufactured in 1914, purchased by Swiss pilot John Domenjoz, and has a Gnôme engine installed. VanDersarl-Bleriot-display

* Unknown ID – VanDersarl Bleriot on display at the

in Chantilly, VA. It was built by teenage brothers Jules and Frank A. Van Dersarl of

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, Colorado. Beginning in 1909, the brothers constructed the aircraft from scratch, including the engine, leading to successful flights with no prior flight instruction in June, 1911. It was successfully restored and flown by Javier Arrango in 2011. * Unknown ID – Bleriot XI on static display at the

Canada Aviation and Space Museum The Canada Aviation and Space Museum () (formerly the Canada Aviation Museum (''Musée de l'aviation du Canada'') and National Aeronautical Collection (''Collection aéronautique nationale'')) is Canada's national aviation history museum. The m ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Ontario. It was license built by the California Aeroplane Manufacturing and Supply Company in 1911 for John W. Hamilton and has an Elbridge Aero Special 60 hp engine installed. * Unknown ID – Bleriot XI Mk II "Looper" on static display at the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...

in Sydney. This aircraft was flown by Maurice Guillaux with first Australian airmail from Melbourne to Sydney in 1914. * Unknown ID – Bleriot XI on static display at the

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science museum, science and technology museum, technology, with a ...

in Munich, Bavaria. * Unknown ID – Bleriot XI on static display at the Museo del Aire in Madrid. Originally owned by S. García Cames, it was rebuilt by Juan Vilanova and Luis Acedo and has been on display at the museum since 1968. * Unknown ID – Monoplane on static display at the

National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. It was built by Ernest C. Hall in 1911, who donated it to the museum in 1969. * Unknown ID – Bleriot XI on static display at the Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina in

Morón, Buenos Aires Morón () is a city in the Argentine province of Buenos Aires, capital of the Morón ''partido'', located in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, at . Located 20 km (13 mi) west of Downtown Buenos Aires, Morón i ...

. The aircraft has replica wings and is powered by a "W" three-cylinder Anzani 25 hp engine.Cater & Caballero (IPMS Magazine May 2013) * Unknown ID – Bleriot XI on static display at the Flieger Flab Museum in Dübendorf, Switzerland. The aircraft was manufactured in 1914 * Reproduction – Bleriot IX on static display at the

South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum The South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum (SYAM) is a volunteer-led museum located at Lakeside in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It occupies the former site of the Royal Air Force Station, RAF Doncaster. The museum occupies the last remaining o ...

in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. * Replica – Bleriot XI on static display at the Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey. * Replica – Bleriot XI on static display at Flugausstellung Hermeskeil in Hermeskeil, Rhineland-Palatinate. * Replica – Bleriot XI on static display at the College Park Aviation Museum in

College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located approximately from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. Its population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the home of the University of Mary ...

. * Replica – Bleriot XIII on static display at the United States Army Aviation Museum at Fort Novosel near Ozark, Alabama. It is one of the first known replicas and was built in the 1930s. * Replica – Bleriot XI on static display at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery at Inveresk in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk River, North Esk and South Esk River, South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River, Tasmania, Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launc ...

. Fitted with an original radial Anzani aero engine and replica propeller. The aircraft was built by students from Burnie Tafe in 2003 and was flown at the Devonport Airshow.https://www.examiner.com.au/story/573852/students-replica-set-for-the-skies/

Specifications (Blériot XI)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Angelucci, Enzo. ''The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914–1980''. San Diego, California: The Military Press, 1983. . * Charlson, Carl and , directors. ''A Daring Flight ''(DVD). Boston: WGBH Boston Video, 2005. * Crouch, Tom D. ''Blériot XI: The Story of a Classic Aircraft.'' Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982. . * * * Elliott, Bryan A. ''Blériot: Herald of an Age.'' Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus, 2000. . * Munson, Kenneth. ''Bombers, Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft 1914–1919'' (Blandford Colour Series). London: Associate R.Ae.S., 1977. * Villard, Henry Serrano. ''Blue Ribbon of the Air''. Washington: Smithsonian Press, 1987. . * Villard, Henry Serrano. ''Contact! The Story of the Early Aviators.'' Boston: Dover Publications, 2002. . * Vivien, F. Louis
"Description détaillée du monoplan Blériot" (in French).
Paris: librairie des Sciences aéronautiques, 1905. (Original ''1911 AVIA book'' French book with Blériot XI characteristics and specifications). *

External links

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's 1909–10 Blériot XI pageBleriot XI World's Oldest Flying AeroplaneYouTube video of Old Rhinebeck's N60094 Blériot XI making a short flightThe Shuttleworth Collection's oldest-of-all Blériot XI making a flightLouis Blériot – Developer of Commercial and Military Aircraft ''US Centennial of Flight Commission''.A Blériot XI at Maurice Dufresne Museum, FranceBlériot XI at Musée des transports de Lucerne, SwitzerlandBleriot Type XI N° 225 at MAPICA La Baule, FranceJohn Domenjoz, barnstormer & aerobatics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleriot 11 1900s French experimental aircraft 11 Single-engined tractor aircraft Shoulder-wing aircraft Racing aircraft 1910s French military trainer aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1909 Rotary-engined aircraft