L.Opdyke French Aeroplanes Before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
II: Bleriot had watched Gabriel Voisin at work, and commissioned him to build a glider at the Surcouf works. Bleriot towed the machine, piloted by Voisin, from a motorboat named Antoinette II, on the Seine at Billancourt; on 18 July 1905 the unstable glider caught its left wing in the water and crashed, almost drowning Voisin. It was built with 2 large Hargrave cells, one for the tail and one for the wings, with a single elevator forward. 2 sets of side-curtains were set between the wings on each side, the outer set at an angle. 2 long floats supported the aeroplane.
(Span (forward wing): 7 m; wing area (forward wing): 29 sqm; weight: less than 200 kg)