Blériot XXIII
Blériot Aéronautique · France · first flew 1911 · light aircraft
The Blériot XXIII was a racing monoplane produced in 1911 by Blériot Aéronautique.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Fully covered square-section fuselage with a down-curved appearance |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Shoulder-wing racing monoplane
- Fully covered square-section fuselage with a down-curved appearance
- Extremely narrow-chord wings
The fuselage was fully covered, square in section and down-curved in appearance, and the wings were of extremely narrow chord.
Specifications
- The Blériot XXIII has a length of 7.62 m (25 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 7.16 m (23 ft).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
It was a shoulder-wing monoplane powered by a 75 kW Gnome Omega 14-cylinder two-row rotary engine. After it proved about five seconds a lap slower than the Nieuport II, both aircraft had their wings shortened to a span of around 5.2 m.
Variants
Two were built, both flown in the 1911 Gordon Bennett Trophy; Blériot shortened the wings of both machines to a span of around 5.2 m.
Where you'll see it
Both were flown in the 1911 Gordon Bennett Trophy competition at Eastchurch. Alfred Leblanc finished second, and Gustav Hamel crashed on the first lap but was only slightly injured.
Related aircraft
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