Blériot 115
Blériot 115 | |
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Blériot 115 prototype | |
Role | Airliner |
Manufacturer | Blériot |
First flight | 9 May 1923 |
Number built | 6 |
The Blériot Bl-115 was a French biplane airliner of the 1920s, best remembered for the part it played in the French exploration of Africa. For its day, it was a large aircraft, mounting one pair of engines on the upper wing and one pair on the lower. First flying on 9 May 1923, the prototype crashed on 23 June, killing its pilot, Jean Casale.
A refined version of the aircraft, the 115-bis was flown in June 1924.
Operational; history[]
The third and fourth machines built (christened Roland Garros and Jean Casale) were used in Colonel de Goÿs' attempts to create air routes to Africa. Commanded by , they departed France on 18 January 1925, they arrived in Colomb-Béchar, Algeria, on 28 January. The expedition ended in disaster on 7 February in Niamey, Niger when the Jean Casale crashed on take-off, killing its radio operator and seriously injuring its two pilots, including Dagnaux. They had covered 4,137 km (2,571 mi).
Variants[]
- Blériot Bl-115
- Four-engined airliner, powered by 4x 180 hp (130 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8Ac engines..[1]
- Blériot Bl-115bis
- Improved version of the Blériot Bl-115, powered by 4x 180 hp (130 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8Ab engines.[2]
- Bleriot Bl-103
- Projected bomber version. Not built.
Specifications (Bl-115)[]
Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1924,[3] Aviafrance:Bl-115[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 3
- Capacity: 8 pax
- Length: 14.45 m (47 ft 5 in)
- Wingspan: 25 m (82 ft 0 in)
- Height: 4.96 m (16 ft 3 in)
- Wing area: 126 m2 (1,360 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 2,950 kg (6,504 lb)
- Gross weight: 4,900 kg (10,803 lb)
- Fuel capacity: 800 kg (1,800 lb) fuel and oil
- Powerplant: 4 × Hispano-Suiza 8Ac V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 130 kW (180 hp) each
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 180 km/h (110 mph, 97 kn) at sea level
- Range: 600 km (370 mi, 320 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)
- Wing loading: 39 kg/m2 (8.0 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.1088 kW/kg (0.0662 hp/lb)
References[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blériot 115. |
- ^ Jump up to: a b Parmentier, Bruno (12 January 1997). "Blériot Bl-115". viafrance (in French). Paris. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
- ^ Parmentier, Bruno (12 January 1997). "Blériot Bl-115bis". Aviafrance (in French). Paris. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
- ^ Grey, C.G., ed. (1924). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1924. London: Sampson Low, Marston & company, ltd. p. 85b.
Further reading[]
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 162.
- "An Unorthodox French Commercial Aeroplane". Flight. XV (28): 382–384. 12 July 1923.
- Aviation in Niger
- Blériot aircraft
- 1920s French airliners
- Four-engined tractor aircraft
- Four-engined piston aircraft
- Aircraft first flown in 1923