Bleriot Monoplane
Owners: Deborah and Eric Presten
Pilot: Eric “Eclipse” Presten
The Bleriot
On the 25th of July, 1909, the Bleriot Monoplane made history. On his first attempt, Louis Bleriot flew his Monoplane from Calais to Dover, becoming the first aviator to fly an airplane across the English Channel. This little 25 horsepower Anzani-powered monoplane went on to become one of the most heavily-produced of the early pioneer era airplanes, and it set many records. The airplane was controlled by wing warping and was one of the fastest of the early types, with a speed of 47 miles per hour. With a span of less than 27 feet, and a gross weight of only about 660 pounds, the little Bleriot accomplished many “firsts,” and it was copied all over the world, both with and without permission. There are some surviving examples of the Bleriot still flying, but most that are seen at public events are reproductions. The oldest flying original airplanes in both England and in the United States are Bleriots (as of this writing).
Our airplane:
Kit by Airdrome Aeroplanes.com
Built by Eric, Debbie, Curtis, and Ben Presten and Robert Baslee.
Time involved. 26 work days in a 29 day period of time in June and July of 2009.
Based in Sonoma, California.
Full Scale replica with original air foil, wing warping, flipper type tail, and dementions.
Engine, 172 cubic inch Rotec Austrailian built seven-cylinder "Fixed Type Radial".
Same type as flown by Eric in the Hillary Swank/ Richard Geere movie "Amelia."
Will eventually be flown on floats (now under construction).
Eric Presten
Eric Presten was born in 1963 and raised in Fremont, California. His earliest exposure to sport aviation came in 1972, during a visit with his grandparents in Vancouver, Washington. There, at the Evergreen Airport, he attended his first airshow!
Some years later, at an Antique Airplane Association Fly-in in Blakesburg, Iowa, Eric met the late Gordon Bourland. As a result, Eric spent a summer in Fort Worth, Texas, so Mr. Bourland could teach him to fly, from a grass strip, in a 1946 Aeronca 7AC Champion. Obtaining his private license for singleengine airplanes while still a teenager, Eric then went on to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aviation Technology from Central Missouri State University. Since then, he has acquired his Single and Multiengine Instrument Commercial Land Ratings, Single-Engine Commercial and Part 135 seaplane qualifications, and is also a licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic with an Inspection Authorization. He is an Experimental Aircraft Association certified Technical Counselor, and Test Flight Advisor.
In doing research for this book, the author has attended several hundred fly-ins and airshows. He has toured countless museums and aviation-related displays and has visited airports in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, England, Ireland, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. He has taken over 40 thousand aviation photographs and has personally flown in over 820 aircraft, consisting of 294 different types! These range from parachutes and ultralights to single-place gliders and aerobatic airplanes . . . and from helicopters and gyroplanes to multi-engine seaplanes and jet-type warbirds. He has soloed 114 types of primarily vintage aircraft, has been involved in several aviation related motion picture projects (including flying the 1909 Bleriot XI in Hillary Swank and Richard Geres Amelia), is a past president of the Schellville, California, Chapter of the Antique Airplane Association, and the Sonoma Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association.
To date, Mr. Presten has owned over a dozen different aircraft. He has restored a 1941 Erco 415-C Ercoupe, completed the restoration of the last surviving 1931 Salmson-powered Russel Light Monoplane (2001 Merced Grand Champion Antique, see page ), and his 1949 Piper PA-16 Clipper on amphibious floats (an Experimental Aircraft Association Oshkosh 2002 award winner, see page ). He is also the current owner and operator of a 1946, short nose, open cockpit Schweizer 2-22 Glider (S/N-8). He has very recently built (with the help of Robert Baslee and the immediat Presten Family) and test flown a fullscale wing warping replica 1909 Bleriot XI which is powered by a Rotec seven-cylinder radial engine.
Eric and his wife, Deborah (also a land- and sea-rated private pilot), and their sons, Curtis (age 13) and Benjamin (age 12), reside in Sonoma, California.
Other books by the author include: The Aviator's Timeless Choice (1986), The Classic Taildragger Buyer's Guide (1994), Vintage Flyers (1996), Vintage Flyers Guidebook (2000), Vintage Flyers II (2005).
Photographic compact disks include: Classic Aviation (1994), Classic Aviation II (1995), Classic Aviation III (1995), and Classic Automobiles (1995).