Blériot 165

The Blériot 165 (or Bl-165) was a French airliner of the 1920s. It was a four-engined biplane, a final development in the family of designs that began with the Blériot 115. Two were built for Air Union to replace the Farman Goliath on their Paris–London route and were christened Leonardo da Vinci and Octave Chanute. The airline found that it preferred the Liore-et-Olivier LeO 21s that it had ordered alongside this aircraft, meaning that no further examples were produced.

The second aircraft had originally been fitted with Renault 12Ja inline engines and night-flying equipment and had been designated Blériot 175, but it was soon refitted to the same standard as the first and shared its designation. At one point, plans were made to build a second 175 for Paul Codos to make a long-distance flight from Paris to Tokyo, but this did not eventuate. Similarly, plans to build a bomber version as the Blériot 123 were also abandoned.

Variants

123

Projected three-seat bomber version. Not built.

165

Original design with 2x 310 kW (420 hp) Gnome & Rhône 9Ab engines

175

Powered by 2x 340 kW (450 hp) Renault 12Ja, fitted with night-flying gear.

Operators

 France

• Air Union

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: Two pilots
• Capacity: 16 passengers
• Length: 14.75 m (48 ft 8 in)
• Wingspan: 23.00 m (75 ft 5 in)
• Height: 4.85 m (15 ft 11 in)
• Wing area: 119.1 m² (1,281 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,919 kg (6,435 lb)
• Gross weight: 5,600 kg (12,346 lb)
• Powerplant: 4 × Gnome & Rhône 9Ab radial engines, 313 kW (420 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 185 km/h (115 mph)
• Range: 525 km (327 miles)
• Service ceiling: 4,000 m (13,120 ft)
• Rate of climb: 2.2 m/s (440 ft/min)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Louis Blériot aircraft.

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 162. 
• World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. 
• aviafrance.com