Flying A Century-Old Design For The First Time | Autopia | Wired.com: In 1909 a young French aviator completed one of the most daring flights that had ever been attempted. In an airplane of his own design, powered by a 28 horsepower engine, Louis Bleriot became the first pilot to cross a major body of water when he flew across the English Channel.
A new Bleriot XI recently took to the skies, though this time it was a short hop down a grass runway in Wisconsin. The reproduction is the result of thousands of hours of effort by a team of volunteers and the Experimental Aviation Association. The group created a replica so faithful to the original that it even included an original three cylinder Anzani engine that had not flown in more than 100 years.
Not all first flights of an aircraft are at the cutting edge of technology. Still, even the first flight of a 102-year-old design was a challenge. Beyond the unwieldy flying characteristics of the wooden airplane, the pilot had to endure a constant spray of castor oil and smoke typical of many early aviation engines.
As for performance, crew member Sean Elliot sums up the design with words most pilots do not want to hear.
“The aircraft is exceptionally underpowered,” he says.