n flew a
biplane glider of his on the Seine in the very early experimental days.
Bleriot's first four machines were biplanes, and his fifth, a monoplane,
was wrecked almost immediately after its construction. Bleriot had
studied Langley's work to a certain extent, and his sixth construction
was a double monoplane based on the Langley principle. A month after
he had wrecked this without damaging himself--for Bleriot had as many
miraculous escapes as any of the other fliers-he brought out number
seven, a fairly average monoplane. It was in December of 1907 after a
series of flights that he wrecked this machine, and on its successor, in
July of 1908, he made a flight of over 8 minutes. Sundry flights, more
or less successful, including the first cross-country flight from Toury
to Artenay, kept him busy up to the beginning of November, 1908, when
the wreckage in a fog of the machine he was flying sent him to the
building of 'number eleven,' the famous cross-channel aeroplane.

Number eleven was shown at the French Aero Show in the Grand Palais
and was given its first trials on the 18th January, 1909. It was first
fitted with a R.E.P. motor and had a lifting area of 120 square feet,
which was later increased to 150 square feet. The framework was of oak
and poplar spliced and reinforced with piano wire; the weight of the
machine was 47 lbs. and the undercarriage weight a further 60 lbs., this
consisting of rubber cord shock absorbers mounted on two wheels. The
R.E.P. motor was found unsatisfactory, and a three-cylinder Anzani
of 105 mm. bore and 120 mm. stroke replaced it. An accident seriously
damaged the machine on June 2nd, but Bleriot repaired it and tested it
at Issy, where between June 19th and June 23rd he accomplished flights
of 8, 12, 15, 16, and 36 minutes. On July 4th he made a 50-minute flight
and on the 13th flew from Etampes to Chevilly.

A few further details of construction may be given: the wings themselves
and an elevator at the tail controlled the rate of ascent and descent,
while a rudder was also fitted at the tail. The steering lever,
working on a universally jointed shaft--forerunner of the modern
joystick--controlled both the rudder and the wings, while a pedal
actuated the elevator. The engine drove a two-bladed tractor screw of 6
feet 7 inches diameter, and the angle of incidence of the wings was 20
degrees. Timed at Issy, the speed of the machine was given as 36 miles
an hour, and as Bleriot accomp