Bleriot 165

Intended as a replacement for the Farman 'Goliath' airliners then in service, the Bleriot 165 was an equal-span two-bay biplane with a rectangular fuselage and large single fin and rudder. The wide-spaced independent main legs of the landing gear each had twin-wheeled assemblies, and power was provided by two Gnome-Rhone Jupiter engines, strut-mounted between the wings. Pilot and co-pilot were seated side by side in an open cockpit in the forward fuselage, and the cabin accommodated 16 passengers.

Bleriot 165 No.1 flew for the first time on 27 October 1926. A second aircraft was powered by Renault engines and equipped for night flying. Designated Bleriot 175, it was re-engined with Jupiters and became the second Bleriot 165. Both examples flew on the Air-Union 'Golden Ray' service between Paris and London, alongside the larger number of Liore-et-Olivier 21s which had been built. No further Bleriot 165s were built, as the Liore-et-Olivier design was considered to be superior. Plans to build a military variant as the Bleriot 123 three-seat bomber and a second Bleriot 175 (intended for a long distance flight to Tokyo, piloted by Paul Codos) were abandoned.