Granville Gee Bee R-1
| Gee Bee R-1 | |
|---|---|
|
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| Type: | Racing plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Granville Brothers Aircraft |
| First flight: |
August 13, 1932 |
The Granville Gee Bee R-1 was an aircraft from the US aircraft manufacturer Granville Brothers Aircraft , founded by five brothers , which successively launched a number of racing aircraft.
history
The first flight of the R-1 with Russel Boardman at the controls took place on August 13, 1932. Boardman was supposed to fly the machine at the National Air Races , but was injured in an accident with another Granville machine. Jimmy Doolittle , who later became legendary, stepped in for him . At the Shell Trophy , he achieved a speed of 471.84 km / h with a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 as a drive, which was well above the existing world record for land aircraft. The official world record attempt took place on September 3, 1932. The machine received an enlarged rudder and a variable pitch propeller from Hamilton Standard . Equipped in this way, a new world speed record could be set with 476.830 km / h. Doolittle won the Thompson Trophy on September 5, 1932 with the same machine .
The R-1 then received a Pratt & Whitney R-1690 and was registered for the Bendix Trophy in 1933 . Immediately after take-off, the machine came on its back and crashed. Boardman died of the consequences of the accident.
The similar Gee Bee R-2 again had the less powerful Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior R-985 as well as enlarged wings and was intended for participation in the 1932 Bendix Trophy race .
construction
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As with most of the Granville brothers' aircraft, the R-1 was a single-seat, single-engine, braced low- wing aircraft with a fixed, clad tail landing gear that was specially designed for speed races. Compared to the immediate predecessor Granville Gee Bee Z40 , some changes have been made. The result was the Gee Bee R-1 with a fuselage diameter of 1.55 meters due to the engine used and a fuselage length of only 4.11 meters. The hull was a welded tubular steel framework into which openwork plywood frames were inserted. The planking consisted partly of dural sheet , partly of plywood. The driver's seat was now directly in front of the vertical stabilizer. The tail unit and the surfaces with two wooden spars and the balanced ailerons were also covered with plywood.
Technical data (R-1)
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| length | 5.60 m |
| span | 7.32 m |
| height | 1.64 m |
| Wing area | 9.29 m² |
| Wing extension | 5.8 |
| Empty mass | 835 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 1396 kg |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney R-1340 with 800 hp at 2350 rpm |
| Top speed | 475 km / h |
See also
literature
- Erich H. Heimann: The fastest aircraft in the world. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-87943-540-5 .
Web links
- Gee Bee R-1 in the Virtual Aviation Museum
- Darrell Graves: The Granville Brothers and Their Fantastic Airplanes. D&C Aviation Limited, Huntsville, Alabama, accessed November 17, 2009 .