Accident Bleriot XI N/A,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 253872
 
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Date:Tuesday 4 January 1910
Time:
Type:Bleriot XI
Owner/operator:Ferdinand Léon Delagrange
Registration: N/A
MSN:
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:Aerodrome Croix d'Hins - Bordeaux -   France
Phase: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:LFBD
Destination airport:LFBD
Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Narrative:
Ferdinand Léon Delagrange, sculptor, and famous aviator was killed while flying his Gnome powered Blériot monoplane.

While making a steep turn at high speed the aircraft suffered a structural failure and the wings folded.
The aircraft inverted and crashed, the engine coming to rest upon the pilot.
The cause of the wing failure was identified by Blériot two years later as a design flaw.
- Delagrange was Voisin Frères's first customer, with the Voisin Delagrange Nº 1 in 1906. First flown in 1907, the aircraft made little progress and was unsatisfactory, until it crashed and was destroyed. A second aircraft, Voisin Delagrange Nº 2 with updated modifications, was capable to win a Distance prix, on 17 March 1908, covering 200m. Increasing performance allowed real flight, up to 1908, when he flew a third aircraft, Voisin Delagrange Nº 3.
This accident day, his Bleriot XI, with Gnome engine, suffered a catastrophic wing loss. This engine, doubled the power delivered by the original Anzani of the Channel Crossing, and this could affect the structure resistance.
Delagrange obtained his Pilot License with Nº 3, when was issued by the Aeroclub de France to the first eight pilots of the world, in alphabetical order.

Sources:

- Knoxville Daily Journal and Tribune, Knoxville, Tennessee January 5, 1910,
- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Delagrange

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
24-Apr-2021 19:42 Air-researcher Added

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