Posted 4 years ago
fortapache
(3290 items)
Picked this up at the Rose Bowl along with last night's Matchbox car and the upcoming Scout Post items. Also another Mini-Plane for next week.
This is the Gee Bee Racer or Gee Bee Model R. This was built by the Granville Brothers. Jimmy Doolittle won the Thompson Cup and set a landplane speed record in 1932. It was a dangerous plane to fly and the next pilot was killed in a crash. It was rebuilt and the new owner installed a larger fuel tank against the advice of the builders and was killed when the plane crashed again. It wasn't rebuilt after that.
There are a few replicas of this plane that have been built. I saw one at the Planes of Fame museum in Chino and it is a very small plane. The replicas are all red and white while this model is like a bumble bee. Not sure which is correct.
Not sure what is coming next but stay tuned anyway.
This is one if my favorite planes, an engine with just the mininum amount of wing, stabilizers and fuselage to fly. Constantly unstable at yaw and pitch. You had to be a great pilot and have a serious set of stones(Jimmy Doolittle for example) to fly it.This yellow/black one you shared is the z1, the first model. The red/white ones you see are the r1 and r2 later models with a more powerful engine. Doolittle set the record in the r2, I believe. . Thanks for sharing a truly legendary aircraft.
Thank you very much Toyrebel. Great information there. Looks like I should amend the description.