TOP LEFT: The fragile and
flexible fuselage is held together
by a network of wires and
turnbuckles.
BOTTOM LEFT: The cockpit has a
very simple instrument panel with
a small fuel tank. The "modern"
flight controls include a rudder
bar and a control wheel.
parts and other parts had been dam-
aged by prior owners. So a multiyear
effort to restore the Anzani engine was
undertaken in parallel with the con-
struction of the aircraft itself. EAA
mechanic Ted Mosman and volunteer
Gene Ely found many local crafts-
men with the skills needed to bring
the engine back to operation. The
crankcase was welded to repair cracks
and other damage. Twisted connect-
ing rods were carefully returned to
shape. New pushrods, valves, seats,
and guides were made using the worn
originals as reference. A local spring
manufacturer replicated the critical
springs for the “atmospheric” intake
valves. A vendor in France cast new
piston rings.
Plan the Flight,
Fly the Plan
By Sean Elliott
“The last time this engine has hauled
an aircraft aloft is likely nearly a cen-
tury ago!” That statement, made by Rob
Erdos, put the whole test-flight pro-
gram for the Blériot into clear perspective
for me. Predicting what to expect from
a 100-year-old airplane with a very
marginal, original powerplant is a chal-
lenging adventure to say the least.
and be a true EAA flight advisor was the
first step toward success.
Rob Erdos, the chief test pilot for the
Canadian National Research Council,
had recently done an EAA webinar on flying the Spitfire versus flying
the Me 109. (A link to that webinar
can be found at www.SportAviation.
org.) Rob really impressed me with his
engineering background, in combination with a natural “street smarts” in
flying old airplanes. He has a terrific
background with flying both military aircraft and challenging piston,
tailwheel aircraft. Rob and I began
corresponding shortly after that webinar and quickly shared our thoughts
on flying the Blériot. Before you knew
it, a team was born. I now had the
perfect partner and flight advisor in
flight-testing this grand ol’ machine!
Using the EAA Flight Advisor process
was essential to our planning. The pro-
gram gave us a clear framework to build
our plan on. Using the building block
process, Rob wrote a step-by-step
approach to slowly gaining experience
with this unknown machine and man-
aging the risks along the way. Things to
consider such as time of day, wind con-
ditions, crosswind component, runway
grass conditions, stability, controllabil-
ity, etc. were all discussed and included
as appropriate. Rob spent some very
late hours and created the initial draft
of the plan.
