Wingspan:
2.167 mm (85,3 in).
Lenght: 1.844 mm (72,6 in).
Surface: 96 dmq (10,333 sq. ft.).
Weight: 5 kg (11 lbs.).
Suggested engine:
Saito FA-170R3 or FA200R3
27cc. 3 cyl. radial. Projected
and drawn by Paolo Severin - September 2009
Price:
1.990/2.407,90* €
+ shipping costs
*For European Community is necessary to add 21% VAT
(2nd price). For the rest of the world, you do not pay
VAT (1rst price), but you pay any taxes due in your
country.
The Bleriot certainly can’t be defined as a nice
looking aircraft. The fuselage is the least aerodynamic
that you can imagine, the wing is stocky, the landing
gear is very complicated, and the front view looks like
the frame of a sliding door. Somebody once said it
looks less like an airplane and more like a wheelchair.
But, like many ugly things, it has some kind of
fascination and the more you look at it, the more you
are attracted to it. This is the way it happened to me.
As everybody knows, the fame of this aircraft was born
on July 25, 1909, when Louis Bleriot, at the crazy
average speed of 62 km/h , completed the first aerial
flight across the English Channel and in doing so he
won the prize of 1000£ sterling from the Daily Mail.
With this success the Bleriot was qualified as the most
reliable aircraft of the time and the orders started
coming in. The plane became the preferred aircraft of
many national fledgling air forces and was built under
license by numerous aircraft companies. Naturally the
production line varied a lot and, if you look at the
old photographs, there is not a Bleriot similar to the
one before. Most likely every buyer ordered his
aircraft personalized.
The major differences were the various types of
engines, the tail feathers, and the rear wheel or skid.
The stab/elevator configurations were:
Upper or lower camber of different values divided in
three sections (the design I chose for my model).
The one self-stable in two sections (a stab and
elevator).
Taube type stabilizer in one piece and controlled by
warping the trailing edge.
There were three primary designs of tail gear: bicycle
wheel, cross skids made out of wood like a Tonet Chair,
or a wooden skid mounted on springs (the one chosen for
my model).
In designing my model I followed the same design of a
1910 aircraft designer and I built it as for my
feelings and personal requirements.