Blériot Aéronautique was a French aircraft manufacturer founded 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 ...

. It also made a few motorcycles between 1921 and 1922 and

cyclecar A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive motorized car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the c ...

s during the 1920s.

Background

was an engineer who had developed the first practical headlamp for cars and had established a successful business marketing them. In 1901 he had built a small unmanned

ornithopter An ornithopter (from Greek language, Greek ''ornis, ornith-'' 'bird' and ''pteron'' 'wing') is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Designers sought to imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats, and insects. Though machines may dif ...

, but his serious involvement with aviation began in April 1905 when he witnessed Gabriel Voisin's first experiments with a floatplane glider towed behind a motorboat on the river Seine. A brief partnership with Voisin followed, but after the failure of the

Blériot III The Blériot III was an early French aeroplane built by pioneer aviators Louis Blériot and Gabriel Voisin. It was later modified and renamed the Blériot IV, but both versions failed to fly. Design and development The Blériot III was radicall ...

and its modified version, the Blériot IV, the partnership was dissolved and Blériot set up his own company, "Recherches Aéronautique Louis Blériot" (Louis Blériot Aeronautical Research) at

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is a suburb of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the ci ...

in March 1909.

Blériot's early experiments

File:Bleriot V.jpg, Blériot V File:Bleriot VI.jpg,

Blériot VI The Blériot VI "Libellule" ("Dragonfly"), was built in 1907 and was one of the series of experimental aircraft built by Louis Blériot which eventually led to the Blériot XI aircraft in which he made the first flight across the English Channel. ...

File:Bleriot VII.jpg, Blériot VII File:Bleriot VIII.jpg, Blériot VIII File:Bleriot.jpg,

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft from the Aviation in the pioneer era, pioneer era of aviation. 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. ...

as first built Unlike the business started by Gabriel Voisin, which was a straightforward design and manufacturing concern with Voisin acting as aircraft designer, Bleriot's establishment was, as its name suggests, essentially a privately funded research establishment, employing various engineers and designers. Owing to this it is difficult to establish the extent of Blériot's involvement in the actual design of the aircraft which bear his name. Over the next few years a series of aircraft of varying configurations were produced, each one marginally more successful than its predecessor, and culminating in the Type XI with which he became famous for being the first to fly 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 1909.

Commercial success

Aircraft design and manufacturing

The publicity gained by this achievement brought the company orders for large numbers of the Type XI, and several hundred were eventually made. This commercial success enabled the research side of the business to expand considerably, and in the years before the

First World War 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 ...

a startlingly heterogeneous collection of aircraft were produced, although none came close to being as successful as the Type XI.

Flying schools

In late 1909 Blériot established a flying training school for pilots 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 ...

, and early the next year a second school was opened at Pau, Between 1910 and 1914 these schools trained around 1,000 pilots: nearly half of the pilots holding an Aero Club de France brevet at the outbreak of the

had been trained by the Blériot schools. In September 1910 another flying school was opened at the newly established Hendon aerodrome near

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In July 1914 Bleriot opened another flying school at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

in Surrey and also a small factory there, which was managed by Norbert Chereau and produced about 20 Bleriot Monoplane Trainers.

SPAD

In 1913 Blériot acquired the assets of the Deperdussin company, following the arrest on fraud charges of its founder Armand Deperdussin. The name of the company was changed from ''Société de Production des Aéroplanes Deperdussin'' to ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'', generally referred to by its acronym SPAD. This company became extremely successful during

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 ...

with its mass production in French factories and worldwide exports. Production licenses were sold in several countries, including a larger British factory that was established near Brooklands at

Addlestone Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Runnymede (borough), Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement. Geography Addlesto ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

by 1917, and a production line at the Curtiss Elmwood plant (

Buffalo, NY Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of New York and county seat of Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River on the Canadian border. With a population of 278,349 according to ...

) in August 1917.

1914–18

During the First World War Blériot Aéronautique was largely concerned with manufacturing aircraft designed by others. The only aircraft produced under the Blériot name was a series of prototype multi-engined heavy bombers, none of which entered service.

After World War One

The Allied victory in 1918 resulted in difficult times for the aircraft industry. During the war a large manufacturing capability had been built up, but the end of the war resulted in the disappearance of the market for military aircraft, and commercial aviation was as yet undeveloped. Bleriot liquidated SPAD, selling its factories and bringing key workers, including the head of design André Herbemont, to the Blériot works at Suresnes. On 6 April 1919 Blériot, in association with other leading French aircraft manufacturers, established the ''

Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes ''Compagnie des messageries aériennes'' was a pioneering France, French airline which was in operation from 1919–23, when it was merged with Grands Express Aériens to form Air Union. History Compagnie des messageries aériennes was establishe ...

'' (CMA), and a prototype 28-seat airliner, the Type 75 Mammoth, based on the earlier Type 74 bomber, was exhibited at the Aero Salon in Paris in December 1919, along with three SPAD designs, the S.27, S.29 and S.30. The Type 75 proved unsuccessful, but 10 examples of the S.27 were ordered by CMA, and a five-seat development, the S.33 was produced, first flying at the end of 1920. This was followed by the larger S.46. Attempts were made to diversify: a contract to build fishing boats was accepted, and another for a motorcycle which was produced at

Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western inner suburbs of Paris, France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,482 as of 2020. Suresnes borders the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, ...

. At the 15th Paris Motor Show, in October 1919, the company was promoting a motorcycle then in 1921 a stylish little

with a 2-

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

750cc

two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a f ...

and shaft drive. The French Blériot cyclecars are sometimes confused with the Blériot-Whippet chain-driven cycle cars made at the Blériot-owned factory in

, England, but in fact the two vehicles had "little save size in common". In 1922 Blériot Aéronautique, which had been a private company became a limited-liability company, ''Blériot Aéronautique S.A.''. Although a single company, aircraft were produced using both the Blériot and SPAD names, the former generally being used for the larger multi-engined aircraft, while the smaller single-engined aircraft bore the SPAD name, and it was these that were most successful. The only aircraft produced under the Blériot name to be produced in any quantity was the Type 127, initially designed in 1925 as the Type 117

escort fighter The escort fighter was a concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, a ...

, and later adapted to become a bomber. 42 examples were bought by the French air force. The last aircraft built under the Blériot name was a large

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

designed in response to a French Air Ministry requirement for an aircraft for a transatlantic mail service between

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

and Natal in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The resulting aircraft, the Blériot 5190 first flew in August 1933, and this prototype, named the ''Santos-Dumont'' proved highly successful, and a number of passenger carrying variants were planned. In May 1935, after it had completed its twelfth Atlantic crossing, the French government ordered three more examples, only to cancel the order six weeks later. In October 1936 the French government provided capital incentive to boost military aircraft production, bought and merged several manufacturers, including Blériot Aéronautique into

SNCASO SNCASO (abbreviated from ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Ouest'' ), or commonly ''Sud-Ouest'', was a French aircraft manufacturer. Created during 1936 as one of seven nationalised aeronautical manufacturing companie ...

(now

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

Aircraft

Blériot aircraft before the First World War

* Bleriot I (1901) Unmanned

powered by a carbonic acid engine. * Blériot II (1905) Biplane floatplane glider built for Blériot by Gabriel Voisin. Crashed on first attempt at flight and abandoned. *

(1906) Tandem-wing biplane powered by 24 hp (18 kW) Antoinette engine. Not successful. * Blériot IV (1906) Modification of Type III, powered by two Antoinette engines. Not successful. * Blériot V (1907) Single-seat, single-engine monoplane of canard configuration. *

(1907) Single-seat, single-engine aircraft of

tandem wing QAC Quickie Q2 A tandem wing is a wing configuration in which a flying craft or animal has two or more sets of wings set one behind another. All the wings contribute to lift. The tandem wing is distinct from the biplane in which the wings are ...

configuration. * Blériot VII (1907) * Blériot VIII (1908) World's first aircraft design to possess the direct ancestor of today's

aircraft flight control system A conventional Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing aircraft flight control system (AFCS) consists of flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkages, and the necessary operating mechanisms to control an aircraft's di ...

for the pilot (1908) * Blériot IX (1908)

Tractor configuration In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...

monoplane. Never flown. Preserved in the collection of the Musée de l'Air in Paris. * Blériot X (1908) canard configuration biplane, never flown. *

(1909) Single-seat, single-engine

tractor configuration In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...

monoplane. The type in which the first flight across the English Channel was made. * Blériot XII (1909) Single-seat, single-engine high-wing monoplane. * Blériot XIII (1910) Five-seat

pusher configuration In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...

biplane. * Blériot XIV (1910) Two-seat monoplane. * Blériot XX (1910) Single seat monoplane with elongated triangular tailplane. * Blériot XXI (1911) Two-seat military monoplane with elongated triangular tailplane. Exhibited at the 1911 Paris Aero Salon. One example was flown the 1912 British Military Aeroplane Competition. * Blériot XXIII (1911) Racing monoplane with narrow-chord wings powered by a Gnome. Flown by Alfred Leblanc in the 1911 Gordon Bennett Trophy competition, coming second. * Blériot XXIV (1911) The Bleriot ''Limousine'', similar to the Type XIII but with an enclosed passenger cabin. Exhibited at the 1911 Paris Aero Salon. * Blériot XXV (1911) Single-seater pusher canard monoplane. * Blériot XXVI (1911) Single-seater pusher canard triplane. One built, probably not flown. * Blériot XXVII (1911) Single-seat racing monoplane powered by a Gnome. One built, exhibited at the 1911 Paris Aero Salon. Preserved and on display at the

RAF Museum The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body and is a registered charity. It has two public sites, Royal Air Force Museum London and Royal Air Fo ...

. * Blériot XXVIII ''Populaire'' (1911) A version of the Type XI with a modified engine cowling, powered by a Anzani. Exhibited at the 1911 Paris Aero Salon * Blériot XXIX (1912) Unbuilt pusher two-seat military observation monoplane. * Blériot XXIX (1912) Unbuilt sports monoplane. * Blériot XXXIII ''Canard Bleu'' (1912) Two-seat canard monoplane powered by a Gnome. * Blériot XXXVI ''Torpille'' (1912) Two-seat military monoplane, exhibited at the 1912 Paris Aero Salon. Circular section fuselage with a streamlined cowling enclosing the engine, rudder in two parts above and below the fuselage, and an undercarriage consisting of a pair of wheels on a cross-axle mounted on V-struts supplemented by a single central skid projecting forward. * Blériot XXXVII (1913) Development of the Type XXV. Crashed at Buc on 25 November 1913, killing the pilot, Edmond Perreyon

Blériot aircraft during the First World War

* Blériot 67 Four-engined bomber, single prototype only. * Blériot 73 Four-engined bomber, single prototype only. * Blériot 74 Four-engined bomber, single prototype only.

Blériot aircraft after the First World War

* Blériot 75 ''Aerobus'' (1919) Four-engine biplane airliner, developed from the Type 74 * Blériot 102 (1922) Single-seat, single-engine ultralight touring aircraft. * Blériot 115 (1923) Four-engine biplane airliner. * Blériot 105 (1924) Single-engine cabin biplane, derived from the SPAD S.45. * Blériot 106 (1924) Single-engine cabin monoplane. * Blériot 117 (1924) Twin-engine bomber. * Blériot 135 (1924) Type 115 development with radial engines. * Blériot 118 (1925) Twin-engine amphibian flying-boat fighter aircraft. * Blériot 155 (1925) Four-engine biplane airliner, developed from the Type 115 and 135. * Blériot 165 (1926) Four-engine biplane airliner. * Blériot 175 (1928) Re-engined version of Type 165 with night-flying equipment; later converted back to Type 165 standard. * Blériot 111 (1929–1934) Four-seat executive transport aircraft. * Blériot 127 (1929) Twin-engine bomber, developed from the Type 117. * Blériot 195 (1929) Four-engine monoplane mail-carrier in both land and floatplane configurations. * Blériot 110 (1930) Single-seat, single-engine high-wing long-distance monoplane. * Blériot 137 (1930) Prototype light bomber/reconnaissance aircraft, developed from the Type 127. * Blériot 125 (1931) Twin-engine airliner carrying passengers in twin fuselages. * Blériot 290 (1931) Single-engine light amphibian flying boat. * Blériot 5190 (1933) Four-engine parasol-wing monoplane flying boat, intended as a transatlantic mail carrier.

Blériot-SPAD aircraft

* Blériot-SPAD S.20 (1918) Two-seat fighter. * Blériot-SPAD S.27 (1918) Two-passenger airliner. * Blériot-SPAD S.29 (1920) Two-seat sport aircraft. * Blériot-SPAD S.30 (1920) Single-seat sport aircraft. * Blériot-SPAD S.33 (1920) Five-passenger airliner. * Blériot-SPAD S.34 (1920) Two-seat trainer. * Blériot-SPAD S.41 (1922) One-seat fighter. * Blériot-SPAD S.46 (1921) Five-passenger airliner. * Blériot-SPAD S.51 (1924) Single-seat biplane fighter. * Blériot-SPAD S.56 (1923) Six-passenger airliner. * Blériot-SPAD S.61 (1923) Single-seat biplane fighter. * Blériot-SPAD S.66 (1925) Five-passenger airliner. * Blériot-SPAD S.81 (1923) Single-seat biplane fighter. * Blériot-SPAD S.510 (1933) Single-seat biplane fighter.

Notes

Sources

*Elliot, Brian A. ''Blériot: Herald of an Age.'' Stroud: Tempus, 2000 *

G.N. Georgano George Nicolas "Nick" Georgano (29 February 1932 – 22 October 2017Nick Georgano
Alvis Archive Bl ...

, Nick (Ed.) (2000). ''The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile.'' Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. * Opdycke, Leonard E. ''French Aeroplanes Before the Great War.'' Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bleriot Aeronautique Cyclecars Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France French companies established in 1909