PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Blériot Bl.71 BN.3
Role	Night bomber
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Blériot
Designer	Touillet
First flight	18 September 1916
Status	abandoned
Number built	1
Developed from	Blériot 67
Developed into	Blériot 73

The Blériot Bl.71 BN.3 was a large First World War French heavy biplane night bomber designed and built by Blériot to the BN.3 three-seat night bomber specification. Only a single prototype was built, which was damaged beyond repair on 15 May 1918.^[1]

Design and development

The Blériot Bl.71 was a large equal-span biplane with a fuselage braced between the two wings and bearing a strong resemblance to the Bl.67, (originally designed with the fuselage attached to the lower mainplane).^[2] Four 160 kW (220 hp) Hispano-Suiza 8B water-cooled V-8 engines were mounted above each other on each side of the fuselage, two on the upper wing leading edge and two on the lower wing. The biplane tail unit was originally designed with three fins, but eventually built with just two and the fixed conventional landing gear had four-wheel main units on struts and a tailskid. During flight testing the Bl.71 collided with a Breguet Br.14 B.2 at Villacoublay on 15 May 1918, ending up in a ditch, damaged beyond repair.^[1]

Specifications

Data from Aviafrance: Bleriot Bl-71,^[2] French aircraft of the First World War^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 3
Length: 14 m (45 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 26.3 m (86 ft 3 in)
Height: 6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 140 m² (1,500 sq ft)
Empty weight: 3,200 kg (7,055 lb)
Gross weight: 6,530 kg (14,396 lb)
Powerplant: 4 × Hispano-Suiza 8B V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 160 kW (220 hp) each
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch wood propellers

Performance

Maximum speed: 140 km/h (87 mph, 76 kn) at sea level

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c Davilla, Dr. James J.; Soltan, Arthur M. (January 2002). French aircraft of the First World War. Flying Machines Press. pp. 69–71. ISBN 1891268090.
^ ^a ^b Parmentier, Bruno (12 March 2008). "Blériot Bl-71". Aviafrance (in French). Paris. Retrieved 14 October 2018.