Louis Blériot

Did you know? Louis Blériot has continued his research in aeronautics in Issy-les-Moulineaux, on the current heliport of Paris to improve his monoplane formula. Some years before his feat on 11 July 1907, at Issy, the new “mechanical bird” by Louis Blériot rises to 2m tall and flies over a thirty meter.

“There is 100 years old, Louis Blériot” (in french)

Il y a 100 ans, Louis Blériot

A historical book of Henri Charpentier
As a pioneer of aeronautics, Louis Blériot, has a special place. It is said that he broke the wood. The reputation is not false, it was, in fact, fifty fall to develop his famous Blériot XI, the winner of the Channel. But what we said less, it was one of the few designers of airplanes to have increased from 1907, flights to test himself methodically different prototypes …

The City contributed to this work by tracing the performance of Louis Blériot in the territory of Issy. Because it was between 1907 and 1909, he continued, on the field of aviation Issy-les-Moulineaux, aeronautics research to improve its formula monoplane. The entire history of this fabulous french character is to discover in this book.

louis bleriot 1909

1909 was a time where the aircraft was still in diapers. Have spent a few years shy but momentous flight originating in the global aviation, led by the American brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk beach, and enthusiasts of the conquest of the sky with airplanes propelled by motors struggle to go back ever further away.
Existing aircraft then have nothing to do with their successors.

Machines are usually produced by its own pilots, just light frames, coated fabric, fitted with engines of very low power, low speed and limited range. They also lack the most basic tools for navigation.

But after 1909 and the Daily Mail newspaper has offered £ 1,000 over who first natural barrier that separates centuries in France United Kingdom: the English Channel.

Struggling to achieve a brilliant pupil of Wilbur Wright, the aristocratic Russian ancestry French Charles de Lambert, and Hubert Latham favorite.

Less obvious, but with much determination as his rivals for the challenge, competition entering Louis Blériot, a former manufacturer of automotive lanterns become builder of aircraft.

Since 1900, Gallo has built and tested prototypes of their own design. The first success is achieved in October 1906 when flying between two locations in a French Blériot VIII, 40 horsepower.

The offer of the British newspaper led him to design a single-engine Anzani 25 horsepower. He made a voyage to test a cross, which lasts almost 37 minutes and gives the hope of winning.

The Blériot XI is ready for its creator to be the first attempt to cross the English Channel.

But rivals are trying to exploit and awarded the first prize.

Favorite Latham fails in his attempt when you turn off the engine of his plane and Antionette IV falls into the sea. The aristocratic Lambert crashes during a test.

Comes July 25, 1909.

Louis Blériot walk with the aid of crutches due to burns suffered in a walk in one of its flight tests.

Despite this disadvantage, the prevailing weather and the pleas of his wife Alice because desist, feels like its time and it invades the irrepressible desire to go back on the canal

The Blériot XI off to glory at 4:35 near the port of Calais. The low wind speed confirms that the pilot is expected and the opportunity to direct his monoplane the British coast.

Soon the boat leaves behind Escopette, which tries to escort Alice, foreseeing that his reckless husband might suffer an accident.

Without any navigation instrument, flying at 64 kilometers per hour and 76 meters on the choppy sea, Louis determined to overcome the moving barrier is unknown. In the ten minutes was in the middle of nowhere, alone and lost “he said later.

The engine is overheating of the monoplane, but the rain helps keep providential in an acceptable temperature and not fail.

Spend the time and the pilot currency summits near Dover, in a mixture of excitement and concern. We know close to achieving its purpose, but far from the planned landing site.

In this vital moment, the front is intended to prevent strong winds fame. Blériot flies against him and find a clear place in the countryside where he puts his airplane, but still the air battle over and over again impossible.

With determination, Louis gives rest to the 25 horsepower Anzani’s plane touches the ground and having witnessed the feat as two of his countrymen, as well as several British soldiers and a policeman.

Just 36 minutes were enough to Blériot became one of the most famous pioneers of aviation.

The trip on the English Channel, that July 25, 1909, marked indelibly on the future of the emerging global aviation. Contributed to multiply the efforts of designers, manufacturers and pilots to fly ever faster, higher and farther, as well as government and convince the public of the promising benefits of aviation.

Is that the legacy for the posterity of Louis Blériot. That the world pays worthy tribute to the centenary of his flight across the English Channel.

Research, technical and technological innovations associated with the French pilot is the main theme of the shows until October 18th organized by the Museum of Arts et Métiers, which since October 1909 has enabled the Blériot XI make the gesture.

Original objects related to the crossing and the industrial adventure of Louis Blériot (1872-1936), along with pictures and movies of the era, make up the exhibition, plus a flight simulator funded by the European consortium EADS, said the director of communication museum, Marie-Laetitia Bucchini.

Louis Blériot was able to cover the 38 kilometers separating England from mainland Europe, in response to the challenge launched by the British newspaper Daily Mail, which promised a prize of £ 1,000 who managed to pass through it.

With 37 years old when he had made the journey from Calais (France) and Dover (United Kingdom) in 37 minutes, Blériot, an engineer by profession, had already made a fortune through his business of automobile headlights, which enabled it to finance their aeronautical research.

Adventurous attitude combined with the prudence that showed a man of business, which made him “a unique figure of the time,” than his contemporaries pioneers of aviation, he said.

“His journey from English Channel marked the start of the industrialization of aviation”

The monoplane, designed by himself, can be observed in the sample to be suspended under the dome of the church museum Arts et Métiers, where he appreciates the difficulty crossing due to the fragility of the crude unit, 300 kilos of weight and only 8.5 meters long.

The structure of the Blériot XI, steel and wood, complete with curved wings, made of cloth and covered with rubber, for the design of which is believed to have sought help at the French engineer Gustave Eiffel, in addition to the propeller blade consists of two .

Created for the occasion, an aircraft flight simulator, one of the most important attractions of the exhibition, said the organization, you can observe and test the technical characteristics and the main conditions of the original pilot, and relive the experience of pilot French from the controls.

The celebrations of the centenary of the crossing of English Channel to extend the town of Cambrais (north), birthplace of Louis Blériot, which has organized several exhibitions and conferences to commemorate the saga of one of its more illustrious neighbors.

The English Daily Mail newspaper, in 1908 offered a prize of 500 pounds for the first aviator to reach across the English Channel (Calais) and in 1909 took up this offer and doubled their number, 1,000 pounds, which made it Several pilots attempted this feat, then so was flying over the peninsula area, it was not easy to try on the open sea, since they were very frequent engine failures and it was more advisable to view a landing at any seeding and receive aid rather than a amerizaje do not know where.

Eager to participate in this event is necessary to make changes in his Blériot XI, replace your original engine for a 25 hp Anzini propelling propeller Chauvierre, this new engine was built with a tricylinder holes in the walls of their cylinders at their most under the motion of the piston thus obtained are not overheating and improved leakage, it was getting an engine that will ensure at least 45 minutes to fly smoothly, as they felt that at that time could win this competition .

On June 26, 1909, a test of his new airplane and set a new European record of staying in flight with 36 minutes and 55 seconds. Convinced skills gained his plane moved to the town of Calais and on July 25 of that year, 04.35 hours when they were perceived that the wind speed and direction were correct as the flight begins , the same route out of the boat harbor “Escopette” that would support but little time and is only exceeded in the air by the waves of the Atlantic under their feet. Perceived overheating engine but a lucky rain helps to keep up. When you reach the 36 minutes of his journey in sight the peaks of Dover (England) made a final rectification of its course and landed on a plateau where he received two of his fellow soldiers and a policeman English. The prize was hers, had flown to 64 km / h and an altitude of 76 meters.

This airplane also noting other feats, the September 23, 1910 the Peruvian pilot of French origin Jorge Chavez managed to cross the Alps for the first time on a flight that originated in Brig (Switzerland) and a destination in Domodossola (Italy).

This model came to make no less than 5600 copies which gave the air units of France, England and other countries. Following the crossing of Calais by Louis Blériot, England found their weak defense by air.

First to Fly

The significance of the achievement of the Wright originally going unnoticed for most of the news media publication or rejecting in some cases such as the Associated Press come weeks later as a brief mention in their reports but without major international comments.
His steps will be followed soon by other pioneers, but only at the end of the decade, the aircraft will make its final push to start building the first military aircraft.
Attempts to register the patent of his invention to the Patent Office of the U.S. Wright forced to invest increasing resources and legal, over the next three years. The potential military uses that are beginning to loom for aircraft and major economic interests at stake do not appear to be unrelated to the difficulties they face.
In 1905 the Wright show in Dayton, Ohio, with their Flyer III model for a reliable aircraft to fly for 38 minutes setting a new world record time in flight.
The fledgling interim aviation in France is the setting for other resonant progress, there is where Wilbur and Orville Wright get the recognition they are initially reluctant in their own country.

With a length of 8 meters, the fuselage of the Blériot XI was built in oak and poplar cross string piano.

The wings of a scale of 7.80 meters, were structured by two massive beams. Each wing is secured by steel straps to a cabin in central steel tube, all the wings were covered with cloth.

The landing gear wire gauge is equipped with shock absorbers to sandows resting on three wheels and steerable radio.

The 3-cylinder engine developing 20 hp Anzani

moved bladed wooden propeller Chauviére diameter of 2.08 meters

In order to fly, with a weight of 300 kg, the device reached a speed of 58 km / h.

Crossing the Channel was an economic world and the French state was immediately ordered 100 copies.

PDF: Detailed Description of Bleriot XI (in french)

Bleriot V january 1907

In 1906, in partnership with other pioneers and Levavasseur Voisin, Blériot IV built a biplane much more elaborate, however, failed to rise. Two years later introduced a queue on the Blériot VIII, a standard half ton of weight and an engine of forty horse achieved in October of uninterrupted travel route between the small towns of Toury and Artenay.

The result of this success was the Blériot XI, a monoplane with twenty-eight horses that on July 25, 1909, conducted the first flight with the engine from the French port of Calais to the British town of Dover, which became the first man who crossed the English Channel aboard an Air Self ingenuity. The feat, which toured the story world like wildfire, he won a prize of 1000 pounds issued by a British newspaper.
During the First World War contributed to the French war effort, first through prototypes based on their own designs, and later in collaboration with the aircraft factory Spade, whose aircraft were involved in the big air contest. Conflict ended, he founded his own aviation company and made numerous contributions to the development of civil aeronautics.

The first flight experiment real, decisive for the development of air navigation, was the brothers Jacques and Joseph Montgolfier in June 1783. His ship was a huge balloon with passengers who reached the height of 2,000 m. The principle of the invention was simple: fire under a balloon light material. c balloon is inflated and rose, because the hot air inside was lighter than the surrounding air. The news of the Montgolfier encouraged other attempts. On November 21 1783 a young nobleman of Pilatre Rozier was the first passenger in Paris from the air in a balloon that had a burner. A few days later, the physicist Jacques-Alexandre Charles repeated the experiment with a more technically advanced, which i used hydrogen instead of hot air: he was born on gas balloon. The dirigible As the balloon did not allow a management of the world, began to project a dirigible craft, driven by propellers. This was performed after he invented the gasoline engine, much more powerful and lighter than the vapor. The first dirigible flight took a significant place on Lake Constance (Germany) in June 1900. Its inventor was the German Count von Zeppelin Fcrdinand. Since then, the airship had spread and was quite used for military purposes in the First World War. Became a symbol of technical progress, but was soon abandoned because of the tragedies caused by the use of hydrogen, a flammable gas. Flying machines The study of the aerodynamics of the airplane and the idea had many predecessors in France and England in the first half of the nineteenth century. Attempted to build a rigid-wing vehicle, driven by a propeller engine light, whose flight is based on four different forces. The combination of these forces could overcome those pushing it towards the ground.

The first airplane was efficient work of the American brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright. Having long studied the failures of their predecessors, December 17, 1903 managed to fly for the first time ever, a machine driven by its own strength and able to travel without losing speed. It was a biplane with wings of an opening of 12.5 m and two drivers (one above and one in the queue), which had a gasoline engine of 70 kg and 12 horsepower. Since then the aircraft had a rapid development

Frontal view of a Bleriot XI

throughout the world. On July 25, 1909 the French invented by Louis Blériot’s wing, succeeded in flying across the English Channel and in 1927, Captain Charles Lindberg (USA). in his monoplane Spirit of St. Louis made crossing the Atlantic in a solo flight that lasted 33 hours.

Jets and rockets

Until the end of World War II, the mechanical flight was substantially unchanged from that in 1903, the Wright brothers made the first airplane to fly in the fifty years following major improvements were made to the new aircraft. However, the engines and the flight were the same as the first prototype. Only the principle of propulsion by reaction with both engines and jet propulsion rocket engine, introduced a fundamental change. The principle that there is a bomb on a moving reaction was known since antiquity: if you leave air, steam or other gas contained in a container, a hole, the gust of air expelled gives the object momentum (a good example is a balloon that suddenly deflates). We had to wait until the technology progressed pond oxidant fuel in many areas before they can apply this law of physics on the fly. In order for an engine based on this kind of momentum was efficient, it was necessary to construct a building with materials resistant to high speeds and temperatures.

Jets

The first to patent a jet engine was the French engineer René Lorin, Airplanes in 1911 driven by such engines were built shortly before World War II in Germany, Italy and England. The most important was produced in 1941 by the English aviator Frank Whittle, who had planned a decade earlier. The aircraft did not need propellers Whittle because, on the engine pistons and cylinders were replaced by a combustion chamber and a turbine, with great violence to expel gas from the back of the tube reactor, the plane was moving. With this system, implemented prior to the war planes after the first English attempt at the flight line, can reach speeds previously unimaginable.

Helicopter

The idea of a vertical takeoff aircraft is old, and many inventors designed and tested such machines in the course of history. However. the first who managed to build a helicopter efidente. ie. an aircraft driven by a rotor (propeller revolutions making pallet horizontal from the ground), were the technicians of the German aeronautical industry Focke, 1940. As their work is not known until the end of the Second War, the invention of the helicopter is generally attributed to the Soviet engineer Igor Sikorsky. who built his prototype, the XR-4 for the U.S. Army in 1941. Because it is able to stand motionless in the air and requires minimal space for takeoff and landing, the helicopter is extremely useful for many practical purposes.