On this day in aviation history, 96 years ago (May 16, 1930), the Blériot Bl-110 Joseph Le Brix flew for the first time. The Bl-110 was a French high-endurance research aircraft that was developed and manufactured by Blériot Aéronautique. Blériot designed the aircraft specifically to pursue new world records on long-distance flights. Development of the Bl-110 began upon the request of the French Air Ministry’s Service Technique division. Blériot designed the Bl-110 as a twin-seat high-wing monoplane, constructed primarily of wood. The airframe’s wooden design resulted in a light and precisely controlled airplane. The fuselage was designed around a honeycomb radiator, and the wheel covers were cowled, both features that contributed to the “fineness” of the Bl-110. The wing was built in three parts, which allowed it to be transported via road between assemblies. Both pilots sat comfortably within an enclosed cabin in the fuselage, which led to issues with forward visibility. Portholes were added to provide the pilots with some lateral visibility, while a periscope was installed to enhance forward visibility.
The Bl-110 had a wingspan of 86 feet – 11 inches, a length of 47 feet – 9 inches, and a height of 16 feet – 1 inch. A single 600-horsepower Hispano-Suiza 12L engine powered the ship, which could attain a maximum airspeed of 137 mph. The Bleriot had a range of 6,800 nautical miles and a service ceiling of 6,560 feet. After the aircraft’s initial test flight (cut short by a fuel supply squawk), the Bl-110 was flown to Oran, Algeria. Here, the aircraft would make an attempt on the closed-circuit distance record. Between November 1931 and March 1932, pilots Lucien Bossoutrot and Maurice Rossi broke the record three times. On the final record-setting flight, they stayed aloft for 76 hours and 34 minutes, while spanning a total distance of 6,587 miles. A new straight-line distance record, flown from New York to Rayak, Lebanon (5,658 miles) was set on August 5, 1933, by Paul Codos and Rossi. A handful of additional attempts were made, but none proved to be successful. The sole Bl-110 was eventually scrapped.
