The four-seater Bleriot “Aero-bus,” first flown in February, 1911, at Pau, was a very marked departure from the usual Bleriot types. The passengers sat under the main plane, as on the old No. XII, and as many as nine passengers were carried with ease.
The huge propeller, 10 feet in diameter, was driven by a 100 horse-power Gnome motor equipment. The front elevation rudder and ailerons for transverse control closely resembled the Farman biplanes. The practical elimination of cross-wires in the main framing and bracing of the planes on this type was a noteworthy construction detail. The spread of this machine was 43 feet and the surface area 430 square feet. The propeller, motor, and gasoline tank were grouped above and supported on strong framework. The weight, empty, was 1,323 pounds, and the maximum “live load” carried was about 1,100 pounds; 24.25 pounds were lifted per horse-power and 5.63 pounds per square foot of surface.