Blériot 127

The Blériot 127 was a French two‑seat, twin‑engine biplane bomber introduced in the early 1920s by the Blériot Aéronautique firm, a continuation of Louis Blériot’s pioneering aviation legacy. Developed as a response to the French Air Ministry’s 1919 specification for a night‑longer‑range bomber, the 127 first flew in 1920 and entered limited service with the Armée de l’Air in 1922. Its airframe combined a sturdy wooden fuselage with a fabric‑covered wing structure, while the characteristic biplane arrangement provided ample lift for the 450 kg bomb load it could carry. Powered by two Lorraine‑Delaunay 12Db V‑12 engines mounted on the lower wing, the aircraft achieved a maximum speed of roughly 180 km/h and an operational ceiling near 5,500 m. A notable feature was its enclosed cockpit and gunner’s position, which afforded better protection for the crew compared with earlier open‑cockpit designs. Though only a few dozen were built, the Blériot 127 demonstrated the transition from World War I biplanes to more modern monoplane bombers, influencing subsequent French designs such as the Bloch MB.81 and contributing to the evolution of strategic bombing tactics in the interwar period.