Blériot 74

The Blériot Bl.74 was a large French biplane of the First World War period, designed and built by Blériot and intended as a bomber and transport. After the crash of the Bl.73, the designer Touillet developed a heavy bomber and airliner with a large double bubble teardrop fuselage mounted on the lower wing. The engines remained the same as those of the Bl.73, and the wings were enlarged slightly and rigged so that both outer bays were split with half struts, although the upswept tail was dispensed with. Only one prototype was built. Flight testing at Villacoublay ended abruptly on 22 January 1920, when oscillations in the tail unit caused a structural failure and the fatal crash of the sole prototype. The Bl.75 Aerobus airliner was a later version.