Warbird Information Exchange

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Tom Hegy flying, Zack Baughman photo




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pretty cool! Wish I could have seen it firsthand!

What I wouldn't give to see one of those Bleriots fly. The worst spanking I ever received as a kid was because of a Bleriot. I ordered a set of plans for one in the back of Popular Mechanics Magazine when I was twelve. I waited for my parents to go out of town. My best friend and I went and cut down tons of bamboo poles and duct taped them together according to the blueprints. We bought a VW Bug engine for $20 from a neighbor, glued a stack of pine 1x6's together and carved out a crude propeller. We cut up my parents best bed sheets- they never used them, so we assumed that they must be junk. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, they came home early just as we had finished the airframe. They explained to us how we would have gotten ourselves killed in the Bleriot and began to demonstrate for us how dying would feel- with a leather belt.
So, I deeply envy and applaud anyone that actually completed a Bleriot replica. Good job!

...and a few more details on the flight:

http://www.eaa.org/news/2011/2011-06-06_bleriot.asp

Pretty cool sight, billowing it's mosquito-killer castor oil cloud. Authentic Anzani, simply awsome...roller-pushrods 100 years ago!

That's not Koepnick's photo of the Bleriot in flight - it is mine. Jim was down by the airplane where it started it's takeoff run. He thought they were going to do a run up and shut down before making the attempt to fly, so he was out of position for the side shots.

Zack

Oops, sorry, edited post-




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If it were Jim's photo. it'd look much better!

Photo from http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 2081688622

Don't be shocked. It was built to original specs and has A LOT of flex in the tail section.

I'm a regular at the Pioneer Flight Museum in Kingsbury, Texas, where a flying Bleriot XI replica lives. But I still say .

I've always yearned for my own Bleriot. but at my height, I'd better build one that's powered by Pratt & Whitney!
Great Job EAA!
Jerry

I do not know much about the Bleriots but it is a pretty machine. Does anyone know if the twist in the fuselage is a byproduct of the wing warping ?

Pogo wrote:I'm a regular at the Pioneer Flight Museum in Kingsbury, Texas, where a flying Bleriot XI replica lives. But I still say .

How often do they fly the Bleriot in Kingsbury? I would love to see that.

The Kingsbury Bleriot hasn't flown in a while, and there are no immediate plans to fly it anytime soon.