The Blériot XXIII was a racing

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 planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

produced in 1911 by

Blériot Aéronautique Blériot Aéronautique was a French aircraft manufacturer founded by Louis Blériot. It also made a few motorcycles between 1921 and 1922 and cyclecars during the 1920s. Background Louis Blériot was an engineer who had developed the first pra ...

. Two were built, both of which were flown in the 1911 Gordon Bennett Trophy competition at

Eastchurch Eastchurch is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Sheppey, in the English county of Kent, two miles east of Minster. The village website claims the area has "a history steeped in stories of piracy and smugglers". Aviation history Eastch ...

; one, flown by

Alfred Leblanc Alfred Leblanc (13 April 1869 – 22 November 1921) was a pioneer French aviator. Biography He was born on 13 April 1869 in Paris. In 1888, he became the technical director of the Victor Bidault metal foundry. A keen sportsman, he was an ener ...

, achieving second place. Leblanc had previously set a world speed record of on 12 June 1911 at the eliminating trial for the French Gordon Bennett entrant.

Design and development

The Blériot XXIII was a shoulder-wing monoplane with a fully covered square-section fuselage with a down-curved appearance and extremely narrow chord wings. After it was apparent that the aircraft was some five seconds a lap slower than the Nieuport II being flown by

Charles Weymann Charles Terres Weymann (2 August 1889 – 1976) was a Haitian-born early aeroplane racing pilot and businessman. During World War I he flew for Nieuport as a test pilot and was awarded the rank of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Early yea ...

, Blériot altered both machines by shortening the wings, reducing the span to around 5.2 m (17 ft). The result was described by

C. G. Grey Charles Grey Grey, or C G as he was known (13 November 1875 – 9 December 1953), was the founding editor of the British weekly ''The Aeroplane'' and the second editor of ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft''. Among many honors, he became an honora ...

, editor of '' The Aeroplane'', as looking "more like the latter half of a dogfish with a couple of visiting cards stuck on it than anything else". Gustav Hamel was the first competitor to start, but after misjudging a turn on the first lap he crashed spectacularly, throwing him out of the aircraft. Miraculously, he only sustained minor injuries. The second aircraft, flown by Alfred Leblanc finished second, his time of 73 minutes 40.2 seconds putting him just over two minutes behind

, who won the event.Gordon Bennett Competition - Table of cumulative lap times
''Flight'' 8 July 1911

Specifications

References

Bibliography

*Opdycke, Leonard E. ''French Aeroplanes Before the Great War.'' Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1999. * Villard, Henry Serrano ''Blue Ribbon of the Air''. Washington: Smithsonian Press, 1987. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Bleriot 23 23 Single-engined tractor aircraft 1910s French sport aircraft Racing aircraft Shoulder-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1911 Rotary-engined aircraft