Bartons Point MFC

                                                      THE STORY OF ROY'S BLERIOT XI

The Bleriot XI
 

After much abuse and ribbing, I am now going to attempt to put some photographs and a 'write-up'on the Club Blog! Deep breath and here goes!
When I got the Bleriot, it had been crashed and left in a garage awaiting repair! Sadly the original owner of the 'Cambrian' kit died and the aircraft got abandoned. It had been run with a diesel and the front was deeply impregnated with fuel and beyond help. 

Looking rather neglected 

There was a bit of a twist in the fuselage, it needed a  lot of carpentry on the front, recovering, re-rigging, new suspension and an engine and electrics. 

The firewall and suspension looking a bit second hand!

When stripping the old covering from the wings and tail-plane, some accident damage and more warping came to light. A bit of timber surgery and a steam gun sorted the problem.

Disassembled, cleaned and ready for the rebuild!

I was unhappy with the under-carriage and did a bit of research on the Interweb. Luckily, I established that dear old Louis built several Mk XI's all to the customers specifications, thus no two Mk XI's were alike!! This left me lots of room for 'builders licence'.

The finished job on the tail feathers

Taking the easy bit first, repairing and re-covering the 'back-end' was relatively easy. After replacing the original 'closed loop' elevator and rudder controls I constructed a tail skid to keep things looking sweet. 

 

 Coming along!

The original 'cockpit' structure was a bit shabby, so I fabricated a replacement in balsa. Due to there being quite a heavy engine ready to install, I placed the 'LiFe' battery and the 2 servos well to the rear. The fuel tank was directly over the C of G. The undercarriage was the result of viewing lots of Louis Bleriot's aircraft.

All in place with room to spare

I had acquired a Saito FS45 which I mounted on beech beams which pass through the suspension and firewall and into second bulkhead. Solid as can be. The engine servo is on the rear of the firewall and has only a 50mm linkage.

The suspension looks a bit flimsy but it works

What, have you never dropped a spanner?

Louis on board and ready to fly to England.
 Au revoir, mon amis!