Building a Bleriot XI

[j3df]

Hello,

Wanting to build the Bleriot XI aircraft that crossed the English Channel, I searched for blueprints off it. I have run into a little problem.

Attached are two blueprints of the Bleriot XI. I don't know which variation is the correct one. I want to use the one that crossed the English Channel. Notice the wheel structure and the body is a little different.

Please, NO google it. I have already tried that.

One more question, I am going to build the body out of blasa wood and-I think- the wing out off foam. I am also going to use a 250 size electric motor. Looking at some other aircraft on the market, I am thinking about making the wingspan 38 in to 40 in. Any suggestions on size would help-this will be my first attempt of making a radio control airplane from scratch.

Thanks a bunch,J3dF

[dgjessing]

Can't help with your specific question, but I'll be following along. I've always liked that plane

Any help here? http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/fac...eet.asp?id=267

[j3df]

In that picture, the wheel struts connected at the front of the wing. The problem is I have seen pictures with the wheel struts connected at the middle of the wing. I don't know who to believe. I want it to look like the one that cross the channel.

[xmech2k]

I wouldn't know a detail like that, either. If I really wanted to know that kind of a detail, in my case, I'd go check at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, but I'm here in San Diego. Don't know where you're at, maybe there's an aviation museum with a library and people there to help?

[j3df]

Please help if you can

[xmech2k]

Confession: I Googled it and Wikipedia'ed it, and found this:

Original channel crossing Bleriot XI

[j3df]

I have decided to go with the drawing with the struts in the middle of the wing. I watched the video of the real takeoff and I think this is correct.

Anyways, it shouldn't be to hard to change.

Thanks ya'll!

[xmech2k]

OK. Good luck! And please post build and completed pictures. Love to see these scratch builds come together.

[Bill G]

If you haven't come across these two sites, they are good resources for early aircraft. Here's their pages with the Bleriot info:
http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Arts/Art4668.htm
http://www.modelflight.regheath.com/...10frameset.htm

You gotta love these early machines, as the photos are only so good, and sometimes few. I spent a good while reviewing photos and drawings for my Avro Type F built here recently, and realized that only one of the drawings was mostly correct, and still needing correction. The recently built replica is not correct either, making it a less than perfect resource. If the wikipedia museum Bleriot XI is the actual plane that crossed the channel, then it should be a great resource. Otherwise, I don't trust them as far as I can throw them.