Blériot 110
A French long-distance record aircraft built by Blériot Aéronautique to a design by Filippo Zappata and flown by two pilots. The only example, later named Joseph Le Brix, set the world closed-circuit distance record three times from Oran between 1931 and 1932, reaching 10,601 kilometres, and in 1933 set a straight-line distance record from New York to Rayak in Lebanon. After two more years of unsuccessful record attempts, it was scrapped.
Why It Mattered
The Blériot 110 existed for a single purpose: to hold the world's long-distance flight records. It was ordered by the Service Technique of the French Air Ministry and designed by Filippo Zappata for Blériot Aéronautique. In March 1931 its crew took the world records for distance and duration in a closed circuit, and a year later the type raised the distance mark to 10,601 kilometres. In August 1933 it added the world straight-line distance record with a flight from New York to Lebanon. Only one aircraft was built, and its career was measured entirely in records.
Design Notes
Zappata's design was a twin-seat, high-wing monoplane built mainly of wood. Low drag came first: the narrow fuselage was shaped around its honeycomb radiator, the wheels were cowled, and the finished aircraft's fineness reached 17 with the wheels covered. The wing came in three sections so that it could be moved by road. Fuel dominated the layout — six tanks in the wing and four in the fuselage held 6,000 litres between them — and a couch behind the co-pilot's seat let one pilot sleep while the other flew. Both pilots were enclosed inside the fuselage, looking sideways through portholes and forward through a periscope. A single 600-horsepower Hispano-Suiza 12L provided the power.
Operational History
The Blériot 110 flew for the first time on 16 May 1930, but a fuel supply problem cut the flight short and the aircraft was repaired without damage. It was then taken to Oran, in Algeria, to attempt the closed-circuit distance record. On 1 March 1931, Lucien Bossoutrot and Maurice Rossi took the world distance and duration records in it. The same pair broke the closed-circuit record three times in all; on the last occasion, in March 1932, they stayed in the air for 76 hours and 34 minutes and covered 10,601 kilometres. By then the aircraft carried the name Joseph Le Brix, in honour of the pilot who had died flying its main rival, the Dewoitine D.33. On 5 August 1933, Paul Codos joined Rossi to set a straight-line distance record, flying from New York to Rayak in Lebanon, a distance of 9,105 kilometres. More records were attempted over the following two years, but none succeeded.
Afterlife
The record attempts ended the story: after the failed attempts, the sole Blériot 110 was scrapped. Only one aircraft was ever built, and the type ended with it. It is generally recorded under the name it took during its record campaign, Joseph Le Brix, honouring the pilot killed in the rival Dewoitine D.33. What survives is the record trail itself: a closed-circuit distance of 10,601 kilometres that stood as the type's high mark, and the 9,105-kilometre straight-line flight from New York to Lebanon.