Airdrome Bleriot XI full scale kit ?

[Gman]

EAA Sport Aviation (July 2009, P.51) has a picture of a Bleriot XI.
The Airdrome website shows the same airplane which is different than the Bleriot kit offerd by Airdrome. They say they built it in 29 days (maybe to meet a deadline for the 100 year Channel crossing anniversary).

Does anyone know if this new and improved Bleriot will be available as a kit?
An email to Airdrome bounced back...

Also, there are two different pictures posted one with wing warping the other with ailerons. The original had wing warping control.

[RobW]

The Wing Warping model is brand new. Robert developed it for Eric Preston to fly on the West Coast. He designed two different elevator assemblys so that Eric can portray different types of Bleriots as necessary.

I'm sure Robert would be happy to sell you a kit for the wing warping version. It is easier to get in contact with him over the phone, than through email. However, he is out of the country for a couple of weeks.

Rob W.

[Gman]

Rob,

thanks for the reply.
Can you confirm that this is an entirely new aircraft and not the 'old' Bleriot XI kit offered?

I have no tolerance for any 3/4 scale wannabe look-a-like or semi - correct airplanes like the Bleriot or worse still the Taube.

Thanks,

Gman

[RobW]

Yes, this is a full size aircraft. Here are some pictures of it that I took at Oshkosh. This version has wing warping. He has a version with ailerons (the one that was supposed to fly the Channel last week had Ailerons).









The cockpit is very roomy. The wing warping is... interesting.

Enjoy...

Rob

[Gman]

Rob,

thank you very much for posting the pictures.
I want one.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Gman

Rob,

thanks for the reply.
Can you confirm that this is an entirely new aircraft and not the 'old' Bleriot XI kit offered?

I have no tolerance for any 3/4 scale wannabe look-a-like or semi - correct airplanes like the Bleriot or worse still the Taube.

Thanks,

Gman

I suspect you'll be disappointed in this one then. It looks convincing from a distance, but it is NOT an accurate replica... it might be a little closer than the other kits, but still, it is what it is.

[RAF56_Ball]

Brad,
Were you at Oshkosh to see this plane? For a kit plane, dimensionally it seems pretty accurate. I was at the Rotec/Airdrome booth most of the week helping out, so I was curious.

Your post held an "interesting" backhanded slam. I looked at the piece being built by the EAA group, talked with some of their team members and did find points of interest vis-a-vis minor changes neccesitated by materials, but am not sure what your point is. What do you find fault with, specifically? what is it that you take issue with to say "it is what it is" after assuming Gman would be disappointed with it? What is it that you think it is that it shouldn't be?

[Ian Curtis]

By and large, I think it looks pretty convincing. For me, the petty details are the elevator (it looks pretty flat compared to the Bleriot replica in my life, the pictures of Bleriot's Bleriot on wiki, and both of Rhinebeck's Bleriots) and the rudder (again its different, but as 18 million different companies built Bleriots, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them didn't have a rudder that looked like that).

At any rate, it is an enormous improvement over the 3/4 scale Taube.

[RobW]

Originally Posted by Ian Curtis

By and large, I think it looks pretty convincing. For me, the petty details are the elevator (it looks pretty flat compared to the Bleriot replica in my life, the pictures of Bleriot's Bleriot on wiki, and both of Rhinebeck's Bleriots) and the rudder (again its different, but as 18 million different companies built Bleriots, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them didn't have a rudder that looked like that).

At any rate, it is an enormous improvement over the 3/4 scale Taube.

Eric Preston, the owner of the aircraft, had Robert come up with two different empenages for the aircraft... in order to allow him to replicate different models of Bleriot. The one that is on there now is from a very early version of the Bleriot XI. See the attached picture below.

Eric plans to use the aircraft to perform at various events along the west coast.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by RAF56_Ball

Brad,
Were you at Oshkosh to see this plane? For a kit plane, dimensionally it seems pretty accurate. I was at the Rotec/Airdrome booth most of the week helping out, so I was curious.

Your post held an "interesting" backhanded slam. I looked at the piece being built by the EAA group, talked with some of their team members and did find points of interest vis-a-vis minor changes neccesitated by materials, but am not sure what your point is. What do you find fault with, specifically? what is it that you take issue with to say "it is what it is" after assuming Gman would be disappointed with it? What is it that you think it is that it shouldn't be?

Sorry, maybe that came across the wrong way.

The original comment here:

Rob,

thanks for the reply.
Can you confirm that this is an entirely new aircraft and not the 'old' Bleriot XI kit offered?

I have no tolerance for any 3/4 scale wannabe look-a-like or semi - correct airplanes like the Bleriot or worse still the Taube.

Thanks,

Gman

led me to believe that Gman isn't interested in anything other than a 100% authentic replica, which this is not.

I am personally a HUGE fan of Robert's replicas. I think every single one of them looks just fine. Some are more accurate in appearance than others, and this is maybe the best of the bunch. But... they're still aluminum tube, not "original" and based on his comment I think Gman will be disappointed in that aspect. I personally find no fault whatsoever with it... I'm very impressed with this aircraft. If I conveyed anything different, my apologies, it certainly was not intended... in fact, I intended the opposite meaning. (Hence the "rolling eyes" emoticon.)