Model, scale 1.10, Bleriot's monoplane no. XI, unsigned, 1909-1910. With figure of Louis Blériot by Barbara Mary Campbell, Kingston-upon-Thames, Greater London, England, 1962

Bleriot had experimented with a great variety of aircraft types and had survived a remarkable number of crashes before devising this simple and effective layout with his eleventh model.

After crossing the Channel in July 1909 he received more than a hundred orders for the Type XI and became a major French aircraft manufacturer. Bleriot XI aircraft were also built under licence or copied in many countries. Bleriot was already a well-known manufacturer of automobile headlamps and accessories and this business had financed his flight experiments.