Granville Gee Bee Model R Super Sportster

The 1932 R-1 and its sister aircraft, the R-2, were the successors of the previous year's Thompson Trophy-winning Model Z.

Assistant Chief EngineerHaffke 1989, p. 99. Howell "Pete" Miller and Zantford "Granny" Granville spent three days of wind tunnel testing at NYU with aeronautical engineering professor Alexander Klemin. Granville reasoned that a teardrop-shaped fuselage would have lower drag than a straight-tapered one, so the fuselage was wider than the engine at its widest point (at the wing attachment point[s], within the length of the wing chord). The cockpit was located very far aft, just in front of the vertical stabilizer, in order to give the racing pilot better vision while making crowded pylon turns.

File:Granville Brothers Model R-1 SuperSportster (2835379758).jpg

The R-1, piloted by Jimmy Doolittle, won the 1932 Thompson Trophy race. He lapped all but one of the competing aircraft, made easy turns and never had to come down and make a tight pylon turn. He also set a new F.A.I. world landplane speed record of {{cvt|296|mph}} in the Shell Speed Dash.

The setting of the record with a landplane was noteworthy because at that time, racing seaplanes such as the then current speed record holder, a Supermarine S.6B which had averaged {{cvt|407.5|mph}} in September 1931,Cowin, 1999, p.45 were faster than landplanes.

The Springfield Union newspaper of September 6, 1932 quoted Doolittle as saying, "She is the sweetest ship I've ever flown. She is perfect in every respect and the motor is just as good as it was a week ago. It never missed a beat and has lots of stuff in it yet. I think this proves that the Granville brothers up in Springfield build the very best speed ships in America today."Robert H. Granville, Sport Aviation, December 1976, "The '7' & '11' Gee Bee" Another Springfield paper of the same date quoted Doolittle as saying, "The ship performed admirably. She was so fast that there was no need of my taking sharp turns although if the competition had been stiffer I would have. I just hope Russell Boardman can take her out soon and bring her in for a new record. There were lots of things we might have adjusted more properly if we had had time to run tests with the ship, and they would have meant more speed. I am sure Russell Boardman can take her around at quite a bit more than 300 miles an hour so you see my record may not last long after all."Robert H. Granville, Sport Aviation, December 1976, "The '7' & '11' Gee Bee"

He also personally wrote Zantford "Grannie" Granville a letter dated September 7, 1932, on Shell Petroleum stationery and addressed to Granville Brothers Aircraft, which reads as follows:

{{blockquote|Dear Grannie:{{pb}}

Just a note to tell you that the big G. B. functioned perfectly in both the Thompson Trophy and the Shell Speed Dash.{{pb}}

With sincere best wishes for your continued success, I am as ever.{{pb}}

JimRobert H. Granville, Sport Aviation, December 1976, "The '7' & '11' Gee Bee"}}

Privately, however, Doolittle was more concerned than he let on about the Super Sportster’s stability. “I could tell from the first moment that it was a touchy and probably unpredictable airplane. ... I didn’t trust this little monster. It was fast, but flying it was like balancing a pencil or an ice cream cone on the tip of your finger. You couldn’t let your hand off the stick for an instant, and I didn’t know how much angle of bank would be safe when making pylon turns.”Doolittle, James H., with Carroll V. Glines. 1991. I Could Never Be So Lucky Again: An Autobiography. Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition, p. 108.

The R-1 rapidly acquired a reputation as a dangerous aircraft. This shortcoming was common to most racing machines of any kind. During the 1933 Bendix Trophy race, racing pilot Russell Boardman was killed, flying Number 11. During takeoff from a refueling stop in Indianapolis, Indiana, Boardman pulled up too soon, stalled the R-1 and crashed.Gilbert 1978, p.t 67.

The R-1 was repaired but with an {{cvt|18|in}} fuselage extension, creating the "Long Tail Racer". It was painted with "I.F." on the cowl (standing for "intestinal fortitude") and the same cartoon "Filaloola Bird" was painted on the side of the fuselage as it was on their successful Model YW. It was decided to save time by not repairing the R-1 wings, but to use the original wings from the R-2, which had been removed in February 1933 when new wings with flaps were built and installed. The R-1/2, or "Longtail" aircraft carried race number 11 because the R-2's original wings were already painted as Number 11 and the repaired fuselage had to be painted regardless. This aircraft crashed in a landing overrun incident soon after it was built, but Roy Minor, the pilot, was not severely injured. The damage was not severe but there was no money left for repairs.

The unrepaired Long Tail Racer was sold to Cecil Allen before the sheriff's bankruptcy auction ended the Granville Brothers company. Allen renamed the ship Spirit of Right, built an entirely new wing with a different airfoil and added a new rear fuel tank for the long distance Bendix race. Former Granville Bros. chief engineer "Pete" Miller wrote to Allen warning him never to put fuel in the rear tank as it would move the center of gravity too far to the rear and make the aircraft too tail heavy to be flown.

It is unlikely that Allen ever attempted a fully fueled takeoff before the start of the race. In 1935 he started the {{cvt|2043|mi}} Burbank to Cleveland Bendix Trophy race with all tanks full, wallowed off into the morning fog, crashed in a field just beyond the runway and was killed instantly. In spite of all the fuel, there was no fire. After this final crash, the aircraft was never rebuilt.Graves, Darrell and Brener,Scott H. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071209093607/http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/lab/4515/geebeer2.html "The Gee Bee 'R-1' and 'R-2'."] dgraves549@aol.com, via web.archive.org. Retrieved: December 22, 2010. O’Leary, Michael Air Classics, Jan 2006, "ILL-FATED HYBRID"

File:GeeBee R2 Oshkosh.jpg

Non-flying replicas of the R-1 have been built at the New England Air Museum and the San Diego Air & Space Museum using original plans for the aircraft.Wolf, Steve. "Gee Bee Super Sportster". EAA Sport Aviation, March 1992. Another is displayed at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History at the Springfield Museums.[http://www.springfieldmuseums.org Springfield Museums] A flying replica of the R-2 was built by Steve Wolf and Delmar Benjamin that first flew in 1991.Benjamin, Delmar. "Flying The Gee Bee R-2". EAA Sport Aviation, March 1992. Benjamin flew an aerobatic routine in this aircraft at numerous airshows until he retired the aircraft in 2002.Bernier, Robert. [http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/Bring-Back-the-Brute.html "Bring Back the Brute."] Air & Space Magazine, March 1, 2009. This aircraft was sold to Fantasy of Flight in 2004 and is on display in OrLampa, Florida.Beckett, Jamie. [http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/briefs/186560-1.html "Gee Bee And Delmar Plan New Lives Apart."] avweb.com, January 21, 2004. Retrieved: September 18, 2011.

File:Gee_Bee_Super_Sportster_3-view_L'Aerophile_Salon_1932.jpg

{{Aircraft specs

|prime units?=imp

|ref=The Influence of Racing Types on Commercial Aircraft Design.Granville, Z.D. The Influence of Racing Types on Commercial Aircraft Design. Aero Digest magazine, July 1933.

|crew=1

|length ft=17

|length in=8

|length m=5.38

|span ft=25

|span m=7.62

|height ft=8

|height in=2

|height m=2.48

|wing area sqft=75

|wing area sqm=6.97

|airfoil =NACA M6 (modified)

|fuel capacity={{convert|160|USgal|L|abbr=on}}

|empty weight lb=1840

|empty weight kg=834

|gross weight lb=2415

|gross weight kg=1095

|max takeoff weight lb=3075

|max takeoff weight kg=1394.8

|more general=*Aspect ratio: 6.1

• Incidence: 2.5 Degrees

|eng1 name=Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp 1,344 cubic inch (22 L) displacement

|eng1 type=air-cooled 9 cylinder radial

|eng1 number=1

|eng1 hp=800

|eng1 kw=596.5

|max speed mph=294.38

|max speed kmh=473.8

|cruise speed mph=260

|cruise speed kmh=418.4

|stall speed mph=90

|stall speed kmh=144

|range miles=925

|range km=1488

|range note=630 miles, full throttle

• full throttle: 2.14 hours
• cruising: 3.65 hours

}}

The 1932 R-2 was identical to the 1932 R-1 except that it used a smaller {{cvt|550|hp}} Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior (R-985) nine cylinder radial powerplant, with a narrower engine cowling, as the aircraft was intended primarily as a cross-country racer with a larger fuel capacity of {{cvt|302|usgal}} to increase the distance between fuel stops. The gross weight of the R-2 with full tanks was {{cvt|3883|lbs}}. In 1933, the R-2 was modified with the more powerful Pratt & Whitney Wasp and its cowling from the 1932 R-1 which was uprated for 1933 with the bigger, more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet. Other 1933 R-2 modifications included a new thicker wing with a longer span of {{cvt|27.8|ft}} and an area of {{cvt|104|sqft}}, and Granville's 2-piece, double hinged flaps to aid in getting in and out of very short runways with a full fuel load. The landing speed of the R-2 was cut from {{cvt|100|to|65|mph}}. Both racers also got an aluminum extension to their rudder.Bowers 1965, pp. 33, 35.Robert H. Granville Sport Aviation February 1977, "The Gee Bee in '33"

{{reflist}}

• Benjamin, Delmar and Steve Wolf. Gee Bee. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing Co., 1993. {{ISBN|0-87938-820-X}}.
• Bowers, Pete M. The Gee Bee Racers, Number 51. Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1965.
• {{cite book|last=Cowin|first=Hugh W.|title=The Risk Takers, A Unique Pictorial Record 1908-1972: Racing & Record-setting Aircraft|series=Aviation Pioneer 2|location=London|publisher=Osprey Aviation|year=1999|isbn=1-855329042|page=45}}
• Granville, J.I. Farmers Take Flight. Springfield, Massachusetts: Copy Cat Print Shop, 2000. {{ISBN|0-9702493-1-4}}.
• Gilbert, James. The World's Worst Aircraft. Philadelphia, PA: Coronet Books, 1978. {{ISBN|0-340-21824-X}}.
• Haffke, Henry A. Gee Bee: The Real Story of the Granville Brothers and Their Marvelous Airplanes. Colorado Springs, Colorado: VIP Publishers, Inc., 1989. {{ISBN|0-934575-04-5}}.
• Mendenhall, Charles A. and Tom Murphy. The Gee Bee Racers: A Legacy of Speed. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0-933424-05-1}}.
• Schmid, S.H. and Truman C. Weaver. The Golden Age of Air Racing: Pre-1940, 2nd rev. edition (EAA Historical Series). Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing Co., 1991. {{ISBN|0-940000-00-8}}.
• Those Incredible Gee Bees (VHS 60 min). Springfield, Massachusetts: Studio 16, 1992.
• Winchester, Jim. The World's Worst Aircraft: From Pioneering Failures to Multimillion Dollar Disasters. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. {{ISBN|1-904687-34-2}}.

{{commons category|Granville Gee Bee Model R Super Sportster}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20091028001948/http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/4515/index3.html Website dedicated to the Gee Bee "family" of aircraft designs]
• [http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/GeeBee-Racer/geebee.php Free Fiddlers Green Paper Model site with a good Gee Bee history page; (Model opens in pdf file)]
• [http://www.donhollway.com/doolittle-geebee/index.html "Doolittle Tames the Gee Bee"] Story of the 1932 Thompson Trophy race. Includes quotes, photos, video

{{Granville Brothers aircraft}}

Category:Racing aircraft

Category:1930s United States sport aircraft

Category:Granville Brothers aircraft

Category:Low-wing aircraft

Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1932