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Bleriot Society of Australia

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Created by landyacht > 9 months ago, 17 Apr 2016
landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
17 Apr 2016 9:49PM
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had a great day today ,and after discussion with some like minded souls, weve decided to form a Bleriot society of Australia. AUS 230 (Vic has graciously agreed to be our Patron, and I have been appointed interim President and Secretary.
I say appointed as it wwas agrred that membership be allowed on completion of a Bleriot
Ive started the ball rolling by starting to build ,hopefully 2 bleriots one with pilot in front ,one with pilot at the back.
weve discovered all sorts of tasty information regarding these yachts and will endeavour to share it as the build progresses.
Having Vic build the first in Aus for us to sail has been a great revelation.and we have now accumulated enough that I can do my "Draw up plans as the build progresses" style of thread. the plan is put all the sheets into a PDF format at the end and make them availablevia seabreeze . the bleriot model " populaire would have to be one of the simplest designs Ive seen,and the first Ive built from Plans!
I suppose it all starts wwith some suitable wood. Im using Douglas Fir,also known as Oregon Pine, but would recommend Tassie Oak,Ash Kauri or red Pine, almost any Tasmanian pine.and would love to hear of any other world wide timbers that may be suitable. stuff with a long grain ,springy and lighta






always best to start these things with a piece of wood and a silly photo

Test pilot 1
WA, 1430 posts
18 Apr 2016 12:26AM
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Ya look loik tha villain from "Around The World In Eighty Days" on ly with you its 1 day :}

Must have been really cold when that pic was took by the looks of what is on the ground to the left and behind you!

lachlan3556
VIC, 1066 posts
18 Apr 2016 2:41PM
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Two thumbs up from me! I rotated your image too

landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
18 Apr 2016 7:02PM
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rhe chunk of timber Im starting with is ay to big and literally needs quatering. from phootos Ive got from Vic the originals appear to have timber rails of only 35mmx65mm. Im going to rip my beam down to pieces 45x70. as my tablesa will ony cut 50mm I am having to cut from 2 sides then split the beam with wedges.
fortunately Ive got a few antique broadhatchets laying around the shed

by fitting a fe of them in the cut and working along the line I was able to split the beam nicely


theface was then trimmed up with a mast bilders hatchet,before further cleaning with an electric plane. getting the metal out always leaves me happy

these beams were then split again to give me my 45x70 rails. after many years in the weather they have a slight bow so Ive soaked them in waterand wet rags ,weighed them down ,and will let them dry over the next few days.
meanwhileIve dug out and old bedframefor the end timbers. the makers plate sums up the age and quality of the timber

There are a couple of great sources for the overall dimensions of the yacht courtesy of the Bleriot company itself in their advertising. the yacht I have taken a shine to is the Bleriot Aeroplage modele "populaire"




Clemco
430 posts
19 Apr 2016 3:45AM
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Found this old poster on one of the French sites. Looks like the same model.




aus230
WA, 1659 posts
19 Apr 2016 9:51PM
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It would be great to get something going here, The build did not cost a lot, and will provide years of fun. Of all my yachts it is the most enjoyable to sail, and fun to have a second person on board. makes me feel like going on a pick nick and exploring all over the place.
Half a dozen yachts would look spectacular sailing together and certainly would bring some interest in our sport.
We are happy to supply any info in building these yachts or any questions on the yachts.
Cheers
Vic AUS230



1913 Bleriot



landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
20 Apr 2016 8:31PM
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Select to expand quote
Clemco said..
Found this old poster on one of the French sites. Looks like the same model.





these guys were the opposition,15kms down the beach

Chook2
WA, 1244 posts
21 Apr 2016 3:49PM
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Geez you have really changed your colours Mr Landyacht after this thread. Sternsteer land yacht idea ,a bad idea ?
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/56-sternsteer-land-yacht-idea-a-bad-idea/

It's really fantastic to see more of these historical craft appearing. Well done aus230, Vic it's a credit to you and Paul I'm keen to see your craft as well.

landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
21 Apr 2016 9:03PM
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Chook2 said..
Geez you have really changed your colours Mr Landyacht after this thread. Sternsteer land yacht idea ,a bad idea ?
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/56-sternsteer-land-yacht-idea-a-bad-idea/

It's really fantastic to see more of these historical craft appearing. Well done aus230, Vic it's a credit to you and Paul I'm keen to see your craft as well.


your stern steerer was a shocker,really silly.. the bleriot was how it should be done. it was really obvious with the cables.perfectly geared and pleasant to sail.I suspectit is closely related to the 4 wheel configuration and length to width ratios. the guy was a genius. vic managed a slide out when the wind got up,but he had no rear passenger. there are contempory versions with the pilot moved to the rear. one of the "rules " the society has discussed is the conditions for Speed records. we agreed that 2 persons is the prefered combination. if only 1 person is in the yacht,ballast of a minimum of 75 kg must be carried in the passenger seat. our current GPS top speed sits at 34.7kph? from memory held by Ben "108" Ashby and Bryan"capt" Cooke

landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
28 Apr 2016 9:00PM
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Finally got some things on paper to started with. for my overall dimensions Ive settled on 2400mm wide rather than the original 2500. the reason is simply one of being able to carry on a trailer in Aus. . although 2500 is legal . our club members have 5x8 trailers, which allowing for a 300mm overhang on the sides lets a 2400 wide yacht go on without pulling down.
The plan is still to make them pack away. but being able to wheel onto a trailer would be great.
The original advertized chassis frame width is 800mm.bbut on viewing old photos they seem to have narrowed it down.. Vic built it at about 600mm wide,Im settling at 700,just in case a wider pilot jumps in. heres some drawings to be going on with

not sure what is going on with the picture size or rotation. page 2 shows the brackets that Vic added to the front of his frames. Agreat idea as it reinforces the front and provides the ideal base for the mast supports

The massive halyard cleat is seen in photos of later yachts. . I would recommend a good hard solid timber like jarrah for this piece. Ive made a number of similar sized cleats for my schooner and they are suitable for an anchor line ,so should be fine for this project. Plan now is to build the bits drawn and move to the next stage with drawings first
.





gibberjoe
SA, 956 posts
1 May 2016 2:31PM
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has someone drawings re steering action in keeping with originality.
Can it be billycart style roped, or foot push pull on axle. presumably it has a centre of steer axle small turntable,
it all seems like a dooable project, and south aust have an entry level representive Char a Voile....raize your glasses ,toast, the "Char a Voile"

" La vie est trop courte pour baire du mauvais vin "

" Mangez bien, riez sogvent, aimez becoup "

aus230
WA, 1659 posts
1 May 2016 7:12PM
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Joe.
The cable goes around a wooden drum at the bottom of the steering arm ,then out to the side through two pulleys (one on each side) then parallel down both sides to the rear axle. I have fitted retainers to the front pulleys so that the cable can not drop off, It steers beautifully
Cheers
Vic

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/Must-be-nuts-here-we-go-again/?page=3

landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
1 May 2016 8:35PM
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Managed 2 measurement errors already. the length of the timber rails is 2500mm instead of 2450mm this due to the measurer of the original yacht not starting from the end of the timber .Also I wrote 600mm for the width when I'm using 700mm..
meanwhile I have 2 sets of timber rails cut up . the 2 sets came in at 6kg for 1 set and 9.2 kg for the other . the 2 pieces for the bow have been cut from the 1923 bedframe . as there was more wood than needed Ive left wood on the underside to beef things up. thetimber Ive chosen for the halyard cleat is a well seasoned jarrah lintel that us too tough for my jigsaw so its off to the mens shed tomorrow for the bandsaw

VindisDad
117 posts
2 May 2016 6:00PM
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Hi guys,
This is looking like the right thing for my new 2 seater.
I keep not sailing much at the beach with other than blokart, as with any people about, other 'yachts are too quick.

Don't have the hat for it yet, but sure that can be arranged.......

aus230
WA, 1659 posts
2 May 2016 8:38PM
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Come on board Bill, you will not be disappointed, everyone that sailed mine ended up with great big smiles on there faces

landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
13 May 2016 5:41PM
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VindisDad said..
Hi guys,
This is looking like the right thing for my new 2 seater.
I keep not sailing much at the beach with other than blokart, as with any people about, other 'yachts are too quick.

Don't have the hat for it yet, but sure that can be arranged.......



Bill , they are amazing to sail. with some tweeking, and a sail that is cut the right way round they will actually be quite a performer . I as amazed at how smooth the steering worked. but waiting to try in a decent breeze before final judgement. construction is boggling simple. Bleriot was rather a clever monsieur.
. you can have vindi back now as I'll need the room

landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
13 May 2016 6:15PM
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Hada sneeky day this week and got some shed time in. completed the first of the mast collars. firstly I worked out where the bolt positions will be on the frame and marked them on a sheet of 20mm ply. then added the relative position of th mast collar. Again my measurements are from the photos sent from france. who is the mystery nice person Vic?.
the mast collar dimension is 90mm OD which will comfortably allow a 75mm mast. height above the deck is 400mm. we were then able to measure the length and cu angles of the front and rear stays. On the original Bleriots the bars are all bolted on but Vic noted that they constantly loosened and he had to Loctite them . Therefore t I am going to weld the 4 stays onto the collar to create a solid mast support. the axle stays will still bolt on to aid in packing away. Ive also included a small plate on the front o the collar to add a bowsprit or forestay extension, a feature which appears on later yachts with higher aspect rigs
the cut angles on the 20mm pipe wre a pleasant surprise. the front stays were 45 degreees at both ends and the rear stays were 60 and 30 degrees. clever Mr Bleriot.
I made a simple cutting guide from some angle iron which made the process very simple with a 125mm ultra thin cutting disc
heres the finished unit and also the plans I drew from the build. please excuse the seemingly random position of photos ad drawings as my ne computer is the worst bloody unit Ive yet had . and that's progress

aus230
WA, 1659 posts
13 May 2016 10:13PM
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Patrick from Airtrack really helped me with info and also put me on to Gabriel kindly supplied the photos and measurements. Gabriel is quite happy for me to share the photos with any one who is interested in building one of these wonderful old yachts.

Gabriel's Yacht





Chook2
WA, 1244 posts
15 May 2016 4:33PM
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Man is that a machine aus230. I love the axle fairings and trim tabs/ailerons Vic.

Well "Landyacht" my roller can indeed roll 20mm galvanized electrical conduit to 300mm OD as you wanted.
I'll drop it in Norseman next Friday for the Doctor to bring to Kalgoorlie for you.


I started out with a 1300mm length and cut the legs off that don't get curved each end to finish up making the nice ring.



May even go down to 200mm OD at a squeeze. Finished with a nice round cross section of the tube too.


landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
16 May 2016 6:51PM
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her


.merci beaucoup poulet.you are a legend. that will be for the Sportiv version that seems to be evolving the super light steering wheel will get wrapped in leather for grip
Ive finished 2 versions of the mast collar. the second is built for a 600mm wide chassis,the same as Vics. Ive also built it with thinner walled 20mm electrical conduit gaining a weight saving of 1090 gms over the 700mm wide piece..
Ive started cutting out parts for the rear steering assembly. and again the sportiv version will be lighter. but I'm planning to make the heavier unit fairly bullet proof.

landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
23 May 2016 9:59PM
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Really productive day on sunday,2 masts cplaned ready to sand,and all the right timbers pulled from the rack . some of it has been racked since 2002.
The rear ends are progressing with 2 styles of steering mount to trial. sorry no picks or drawings as my NBN has gone on holidayfor a few days tiil the new month cuts in

frogy
42 posts
26 May 2016 7:18PM
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Belgium




Terii22
2 posts
27 May 2016 8:13PM
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Hi guys,

I would be glad to join you... despite from France !

Mail me for pics of my 1/2 scale Blériot if u want ?


Landsailing regards !!!

Terii

aus230
WA, 1659 posts
27 May 2016 9:12PM
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we would like to see the pics, thank you

landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
27 May 2016 9:43PM
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frogy said..
Belgium





I have to ask Frogy is the name said as "bleh- re- ot " or " ble - ree-oh" . I dont know if your english grammar is as bad as my french grammar but it would be good to know the correct pronunciation

Hiko
1229 posts
28 May 2016 5:47AM
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Mr Google my best friend has the answer just google Bleriot pronunciation and you can hear a frenchwoman saying the word

landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
31 May 2016 5:15PM
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I did check . its apparently Bleh-ree-oh
and th wrong link

aus230
WA, 1659 posts
31 May 2016 8:17PM
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Short clip of these old yachts racing

www.britishpathe.com/video/ice-yachting/query/land+yachts


www.cparama.com/forum/chars-a-voile-t4100.html

aus230
WA, 1659 posts
10 Jun 2016 8:11PM
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Few more pics that I came across, Wonderful old yachts, and lots of ideas for builders.













landyacht
WA, 5921 posts
13 Jun 2016 3:34PM
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apologies for not making progress.Ive got stuck with work and the new front fence. add rain stuffing up work and helping run the Goldfields Cyclassic(google it) so its been a tad busy.
Im still stuck at the rear mountings . Ive got measurements but not the shed time.
the front fence is going well with the drystone base 3/4 done. we couldnt help using the stone to have a go at a drystone arch while we had the stone free





promise to get some progress later in the week. Vic,Have you picked up that timber yet. thank you chook for the sports wheel. im also experimenting with steaming a cane steering wheel as well



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"Bleriot Society of Australia" started by landyacht