Tony Ray’s Bleriot XI

One of Tony Ray’s Micro Aeroplanes

Additional build information from

Steve Webb Models

Mini Bleriot XI – Kit Inventory

➢ Wood Parts :
o Balsawood Sheets *3
o Basswood Sheets *1
➢ Hardware Parts:
o Carbon rod *3
o Micro screw *4
o Heatshrink tube *1
o Rubber Wheel *2
➢ Paper Parts :
o Installation plan drawings *2
o Covering tissue *1

➢ Required Electronics :
RC Transmitter with at least 3 channels;
Receiver/ESC (If you use Brushless motor)/ Motor: 8.5mm coreless motor with gearbox;
Propeller: GWS4530 or equivalent; LiPo battery

Note: The CoG of this model is very near the front. Please keep the battery as far forward as
possible
This is a small model but don’t underestimate its complexity. It is suggested that this
should not be a first build of a model aircraft. Some prior knowledge would be helpful.
However, we’ve tried to point out any pitfalls and ease the way to making a successful
model of the iconic Bleriot XI, the first aircraft to fly across the English Channel from
England to France, whether you want to fly it or as a static model.

Before you start

o Some items you may find helpful
• A sharp, fine modelling knife or scalpel and additional blades
• Fine nosed pliers or strong tweezers
• A very fine cross head screw driver for miniature screws
• A couple of clear plastic containers for holding small parts. Keep your clear
plastic, takeaway food containers, they’re ideal.
• Pins and a small building board.
• In the main I used thin cyano acrylate (super glue) for the well fitting joints
and thinly spread aliphatic resin (yellow glue) for sheet to sheet bonds
• A capillary tube extension for the cyano acrylate bottle to reach awkward
glue joints
• A small sanding board (make one by gluing 2 pieces of 1/16 balsa, 3inch x
1.25inch with grain crossed at 90deg. You can stick a different grade of
sandpaper to each side to make a really handy small sanding block)

o Read through the notes in conjunction with the pictures in this build document.
o Check each “Step” before you start it. Carefully study the photos in the pictures
o Identify all the parts for each step and remove only these from the relevant sheet
by cutting through the tabs in the laser cuts around each item. Use a plastic
container to hold them until needed in the step.
o Any offcuts containing other pieces (like the centre of the cowl) can be stored in
another plastic container
o Remember, the parts are extremely small and leave very little room for recovery if
you get things wrong. However, the standard of the kit makes it less likely that you
will make that mistake in the first place.
The build
Not all of the steps need clarification, this does not mean they aren’t important. Make sure
you check them as you go through the build.
IMPORTANT: It is recommended that you cut 2 of the lengths of carbon rod at 200mm
before starting. This is for the front lower spar in the wings. Cutting them now ensures
that you don’t end up having used too much of one of the rods necessary for the wings.

Part 1 – The Fuselage

Steps 1 to 6
• Although the fuselage box is straightforward to build it is very delicate, particularly
after the removal of the centre pieces. The remaining strips between the edges are
cross grained and fragile.
• Remove the 2 formers from the basswood sheet followed by the balsa wood sides
of the fuselage box.
 • Carefully glue the formers into the sides of the box, making sure that the one with
4 small holes is fitted in the forward slots.
• Fit the top and bottom parts and once fitted snugly together, apply cyano to the
inside of all side joints.
• Carefully sand the edges to a gentle curve as shown.

Steps 7 and 8
• Very carefully, remove the centres of the top, bottom and sides. You need a fine
blade, patience and a gentle touch!

Steps 9 and 10
• Remove the fuselage top and bottom sections from the balsa sheet along with 2 of
the 1.5mm square stringer pieces. These are from the thicker set of stringers.
• Cut and fit the cross pieces as shown. If you have little wastage, you should use just
over 1 length of stringer.
 Steps 11 to 13
• Remove the 2 small “V” shaped reinforcing pieces from the basswood sheet and
glue them to the ends of the top and bottom parts.
• Remove the tail post from the balsa sheet and glue between the 2 ends with the “V”
pieces inwards. Make sure the small hole is not obscured or blocked with glue
 Steps 14 to 17
• Remove the cross piece formers from the sheet and glue into place. Make sure the
whole assembly is square with the vertical tail post.
• Very carefully remove the centre pieces from the formers

Step 18
• Glue the rear fuselage assembly to the front, keeping the tail post vertical in
relation to the front box sections.
 Steps 19 to 21
• Remove the rudder parts from the balsa sheet and glue together. This can be done
over the plan if necessary but the parts are self jigging
• Cut and fit the cross pieces from the 1.5mm stringer
• Remove the 2 small hinge pieces from the basswood sheet and glue carefully into
the slots in the front of the rudder, making sure they are centralised and in line
with each other.

Steps 22 and 23
• These steps can be completed after covering the model if preferred
• Remove a control horn from the basswood sheet
• Cut a short length of carbon rod to fit through the hinges and between the top and
bottom of the rudder
• Pass the rod through the hinges and the control horn, with the horn above the top
hinge and glue the hinges and the horn to the rod making sure no glue gets on to
the fuselage ends where the rod passes through them.
Steps 24 to 27
• Remove the parts of the tailplane and elevator and build in the same way as the
rudder
 Steps 28 to 32
• If you intend to cover the model you can leave this section to the end of the build
after covering, or you can cover the tailplane before fitting the moving parts
• Remove the necessary parts from the basswood sheet.
• Cut the 3rd carbon rod to a length of 120mm, saving the off cut
• Glue the 2 hinge guides to the ends of the tailplane and pass the rod through them
making sure to remember the control horn. This fits in the centre with the end
through the central hole and needs to be glued to the carbon rod
• Cut 2 lengths of heat shrink tube to fit over the ends of the carbon rod and shrink
onto the rod. Make sure the rod turns freely.
• Put a drop of superglue on the end of each tube to fix securely to the rod.
• Line up the tailplane and tips on a flat surface with space for the horn to project
downwards so the tips line up exactly.
• Glue the heat shrink tube, making sure no glue gets on the hinge point on the end
of the tailplane.
• Glue in place the “gasket” to the trailing edge
 Step 33
• Illustration of rear end configuration. Only glue together at this stage if you intend
to use the model as a display piece without covering material. Leave the assembly
until after covering the model, particularly if you intend to fly it.
 Steps 34 to 36
• Remove parts of the tail skid assembly from the sheets. The 2 small curved pieces
are balsa, the rest are basswood.
• Assemble the parts as shown and glue in place below the rear of the fuselage.

Steps 37 to 41
• Start by selecting the parts for the upper wing wire supports. Use the thicker
(1.5mm) stringer for the cross piece.
• Glue together on top of the fuselage in front of the fuselage cut out.
• Select the parts for the lower support and glue together below the fuselage area as
illustrated.
Undercarriage

Steps 42 to 44
• remove the parts of the undercarriage frame from the basswood sheet
• Glue together as shown
 Steps 45 and 46
• Select the parts for the top suspension mounts
• Make up 2 pairs of double thickness. Ensure the holes are in line

Steps 48 and 49
• Remove the 14 small pieces of the top suspension mount. Make sure you keep
them as separate sets of 7
• Assemble the 2 sets as shown, with the slotted part centrally and the 2 small parts
at the outside. Make sure the holes line up.
 Step 47
• Cut 2 carbon rods to 75mm
• Study the illustration noting that the rods protrude through the bottom cross
member of the frame
• Thread the rods through the ends of the frame cross beams and the upper
suspension mounts. Only glue the top ends at this stage, they should be flush with
the top of the frame

Steps 50 and 51
• Remove the 4 undercarriage arms and cut 2 rods to approximately 8mm
• Thread the rods through the undercarriage blocks and glue the arms to each end of
the rod. They should be flush with the recess in the block and no glue should get
into the block. The arms should be free to turn and should be stopped at the angle
shown in the illustration by the shape of the arm within the recess.
• The blocks should be glued on to the protruding ends of the carbon rods.
 Steps 52 to 54
• Make up the wheels from the balsa parts
• Glue the centre ring between the outer sides, with the grain at right angles on each
step.
• When thouroughly dry, fit the tyres taking care not to damage the “rims”
 Steps 55 to 57
• Cut a piece of carbon rod to at about 85mm
• Pass this through each arm and each wheel as shown
• Secure the rod at each end with a small piece of heat shrink tube or by
superglueing carefully so that the wheels rotate freely.
• Find 2 (or 4) small rubber bands (“Loom” bands work well)
• Fit these from the hooks at the front of the undercarriage arms to the top
suspension mounts and slide the upper mounts to adjust the suspension.
• When the suspension feels right, glue the upper mounts.
• Glue the whole assembly to the front of the fuselage (this is easier left until after
covering).

The Wings
Step 58 to 61
• Remove the parts for the outline of one wing
• Over the plan, pin the leading and trailing edges and build and glue the tips
• Add the two 1mm square spars (from the thinner stringers) where indicated. Glue
them to the ti
• Remove the inboard rib from the basswood sheet and glue in place as shown.
Ensure it is vertical.
 Steps 62 and 63
• Remove the 5 ribs from the balsa sheet and glue in place over the ribs.
• Note that there are 4 of the larger size and 1 shorter for the tip.

Steps 64 and 65
• Carefully glue the upper spars in place. The spars share the slots in the tips with
the lower spars. Try to keep the front and rear spars level with the top of the tip
segments.
• Glue them into the tip leaving them resting in the slots in the outer rib without
gluing to the spar yet. The spar will project upwards over the wing.
• Gently crack the spar while pressing down into the slot in the next rib. Glue into
these 2 outer ribs.
• Complete each spar by pressing carefully into the remaining rib slots and gluing.
• When dry, remove the wing from the board and glue in the remaining wooden spar
at the rear of the wing, and the carbon fibre front spar.
• When dry, cut all the spars flush with the inner rib.
 Steps 66 to 69
• Remove the parts for the wing support box from the balsa sheet. There is a very
small difference in width between the parts with holes in (box rear) in each set.
The narrower ones are for the front box.
• Fit the box rears between the spars just rearwards of the slots in the end rib. Make
sure they are flush with the rear of the slot and do not obstruct it.
• Fit the forked piece with the open end against the rib and in front of the box rear.
Again, make sure there is no obstruction to the slot.
• Glue the front, solid piece of the box over the forked piece.

Steps 70 and 71
• Build the second wing in the same way as the first.

Electronics holder
 Steps 72 to 74
• Remove all the parts from the basswood sheet
• Glue together the 2 forked pieces, ensuring that they line up exactly
• Fit this forked assembly into the 2 triangular pieces and the bulkhead as shown in
Step 73, then glue.
• Slot in the top and bottom of the support box behind the bulkhead and fit the end
piece, then glue making sure they are all square
 Step 75
• This is a typical assembly using two 1.7gm servos and a suitable receiver/speedo
block. You can also use a Parkzone type combined servo/speedo/receiver block or
a donor unit.
• The motor and gearbox have a square hole in the plastic mount, just above the
motor, this fits over the central tongue on the motor mount.
• The assembly is screwed into the front of the fuselage against the front former
using the 4 micro screws. The motor goes below the gearbox.

Photos of the completed model built while writing these

instructions:
 If you enjoyed building the Bleriot XI
Thanks for your support come from Tony Ray. He is a college student who’s mad
about micro balsa aircraft and continues to design traditional micro scale models
making them affordable without compromising component and material quality.
This gives an unparalleled building and flying experience.
Other Tony Ray models available from Steve Webb Models
➢ Mini Sopwith Camel
➢ Mini P51 Mustang
➢ Mini Fokker EIII Eindecker
➢ Bleriot XI
➢ Etrich Dove (Taube)
➢ Coming Soon – Avro 504