8/7/2019 Gee Bee Airplane History

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Sources: Flight, 100 Years of Aviationby R.G. Grant (Dorling Kindersley Ltd., 2002); Gee Bee by Delmar Benjamin & Steve Wolf (MBI Publishing, 1993);Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Book of Flight by Judith

Rinard (Firefly Books, 2001);U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, www.centennialofflight.gov; Western Reserve Historical Society, www.wrhs.org/exhibits/airrace/index.htm; The Golden Age of Aviation, byDarrell Graves, www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/4515/index.html

After he became America’s first World War I ace, and before he washonored as a World War II Medal of Honor winner, James Doolittle, amongother things: became the first pilot to fly across the U.S. in a single day in1922; performed the first outside loop in a Curtiss P-1 pursuit plane in 1925;won the 1925 Schneider (seaplane) Trophy Race, establishing a world recordspeed of 245 mph. and, on September 24, 1929, made the first blind(instruments only) flight in history. Doolittle also earned a doctorate inaeronautical engineering from M.I.T.

In 1931 he won the cross-country Bendix Trophy race, stopped for 30minutes to refuel and then set a new transcontinental record with a time of11 hrs. 16 min. and 10 sec. with an average speed of 217 mph.,filling in for the injured Russell Boardman at the National Air Races in Cleveland,Doolittle set a world speed record of 296.287 and then won the coveted closed-courseThompson Trophy Race in the Granville Brothers’ Gee Bee R-1.

THE GREAT PLANESRacing the wind: The golden age of air racing

A series of special pages focusing on the significant machines, events and people of powered flight’s first 100 years

DaytonDaily News

CENTURY OF FLIGHT

1903 ~ 2003

The intoxicating combination of speed and danger– epitomized by the distinctive barrel-shaped Gee Beeracers created in an abandoned dance hall by theGranville Brothers of Springfield, Massachusetts – helpedmake the annual National Air Races a major event ofthe 1930s. At their peak, the races had grown to a ten-day event with crowds of over a million people andextensive newsreel and print media coverage common.Piloting the exotic looking, and sometimestemperamental flying machines made celebrities of thefliers - both men and women – who risked their lives inpursuit of the notoriety, trophies and prize money thatwould keep their businesses and careers afloat in aperiod during which other private commercial aviationopportunities had greatly diminished. The Bendix

cross-country completion and the Thompson Trophy, a100-mile, 10-lap pylon sprint, highlighted the Cleveland-based national events and drew the best engineers,aviators and designers.

It was a period of development and risk in anembryonic industry and the casualty rate was high. Thecontroversial Gee Bee designs, culminating in the Zmodel of 1931 and the R-1 and R-2 of 1932, are stillviewed as either “killer” planes or ahead-of-their-timefeats of aeronautic engineering genius. Aviation legendJimmy Doolittle, who piloted the R-1 to the 1932

Thompson Trophy in overwhelming style and recordtime – and then retired from racing – described flyingit as akin to balancing a pencil on one’s fingertip: certainlypossible with practice but requiring absolute focus andattention. By the end of the decade the Nationals haddiminished in popularity (the annual races continuetoday in Reno, Nevada) and the Granville Brothers werebankrupt, but the swift, beautiful planes they built reflecta dangerous, romantic and heroic period in the historyof poweredflight.

Jimmy Doolittle at the races

Roscoe Turner and the Williams 44

Written and designed by Ted Pitts, Cleveland National Air Races photography by William Anderson, used by permission of the Anderson family and Darrell Graves

The Goodyear Blimp soars above the crowd at the 1931 National Air Races inCleveland

Gee Bee R-1

The Gee Bee Model Z racer was the first GranvilleBrothers plane built exclusively for racing. At theSeptember 1931 Cleveland National Air Races, pilotedby either Lowell Bayles, above, or designer RobertHall, the Z won every major speed race, includingBayles’ victory in the prestigious Thompson Trophy.Tragically, Bayles was killed later that year inDecember when the Z crashed while Bayles wasmaking an attempt on the world speed record.

In 1935, 30-year-old Howard Hughes, millionaire businessman, moviemaker,aviator and suitor to the likes of Katherine Hepburn and Jean Harlow, set aboutdesigning and building the revolutionary H-1 racer. The sleek flying machineresides today in the National Air and Space Museum, a monument to Hughes’

vision and to the golden age of aviation between the two world wars.The H-1 was designed by Hughes and Richard Palmer and built by Glenn Odekirk.It’s streamlined, low-drag form, powered by a 900 hp. Pratt & Whitney Twin WaspJunior, was aerodynamically superb and featured the first-ever hydraulically-

controlled retractable landing gear.On Sept. 13, 1935, with Amelia Earhartflying above to ensure that Hughesdid not exceed the 1,000-ft. altitudelimit during his attempt, he pilotedthe H-1 to a new world speed recordof 353.388 mph, more than 40 milesper hour faster that the previousrecord. Hughes flew a modifiedversion of the H-1 with longer wingsto a new United Statestranscontinental speed record in1937.

Roscoe Turner was one of the most successful pilots of the golden age of airracing in the 1930s, winning the Thompson Trophy in 1934, 1938 and 1939, andthe Bendix cross-country race in 1933.

Jim Wedell, backed by millionaire Harry Williams, built three nearly identicalplanes in the 1930-1932 period to race in the major pylon and long distanceevents. All were referred to as “44s”. Wedell flew his personal number 44 tovictory in the Thompson in 1933. James Haizlip, among others, flew the No. 92successfully, winning the 1932 Bendix cross country race in the racer. The thirdaircraft was built for Turner, who used it to win the Bendix in 1933.

The model 44 weighed 1500 pounds and was powered by a Pratt & WhitneyWasp Junior. The engine made up nearly half the weight of the plane. Turner laterreplaced the Wasp with a Hornet engine on his aircraft, increasing the weight toalmost 2000 lbs.

Established in 1913 as an annual competition of seaplanes by FrenchmanJacques Schneider, the Schneider Cup races became a major nationalistic eventwith government-sponsored teams from the United States, Great Britain and Italywinning most of the laurels. The pursuit of greater speed and less drag lednaturally to the development of sleek monoplanes and at least partially to thedemise of the biplane.

The United States was victorious in 1923 with a Navy Curtiss CR-3 piloted byDavid Rittenhouse and again in 1925 on the strength of U.S. Army Lt. JimmyDoolittle’s 232.37 mph in a Curtiss R3C-2.

The British retired the trophy by winning consecutive competitions in 1927,1929 and 1931. The Supermarine S.6B type piloted by John Boothman of theRoyal Air Force which won the 1931 competition was the inspiration for theSupermarine Spitfire fighter of WWII. The S.6B became the first plane to exceed400 mph when G.H. Stainforth flew the Supermarine at 407.5 mph, setting a newworld speed record for planes of any type in September 1931.

The Schneider Trophy and the S.6B

Howard Hughes and the H-1

The R-1 was outfitted for speed with a Pratt &Whitney 800 hp. Wasp Sr. while the R-2, intendedfor cross country racing, was fitted with a 550hp. Wasp Jr.

The Granville Brothers formed the “Springfield Air RaceAssociation” with money from private investors to helpdefray the cost of their racing activities.

Granville Brothers

THOMPSON TROPHY WINNERS

 Year Winner Plane Prize Speed

1930 Charles W. Holman Laird LC-DW-300 "Solution" $5,000 201.911931 Lowel l Bay les Gee Bee "Model Z" $7,500 236 .2391932 James H. Doolittle Gee Bee "Model R-1" $4,500 252.6861933 James R. Wedell Wedell .Wil liams "44" $3,375 237.9521934 Roscoe Turner Wedell-Will iams "44" $4,500 248.1291935 Harold Neumann Howard DGA-6 $6,750 220.1941936 Michel Detroyat Caudron Special C-460 $9,500 264.2611937 R . A . K ling Kling SK-3. "Jup iter " $9,000 256 .910

1938 Roscoe Turner Laird-Turner LTR-14 $22,000 283.4191939 Roscoe Turner Laird-Turner LTR-14 $16,000 282.536

BENDIX TROPHY WINNERS

Race Winner Plane Prize Speed Time

1931 Los Angeles to Cleveland J. H. Doolittle Laird "Super Solution" $7,500 233.058 9:10:211932 - Burbank to Cleveland James G. Haizlip Wedell-Williams "44" $6,750 245. 8:19:451933 - New York to Los Angeles Roscoe Turner Wedell-Williams "44" $5,050 214.78 11:301934 - Los Angeles to Cleveland Doug Davis Wedell-Will iams "44" $4,500 216.237 9:26:411935 - Los Angeles to Cleveland Ben O . Howar d Howar d DGA-6 $4,500 238 .704 8 :33:161936 - New York to Los Angeles Lou ise T haden Beechcr af t $7,000 166 .060 14:551937 - Los Angeles to Cleveland Frank Fuller Seversky SEV-S2 $13,000 258.242 7:54:261938 - Los Angeles to Cleveland Jacqueline Cochran Seversky SEV-S $12,500 249.744 8:10:311939 - Los Angeles to Cleveland Frank Fuller Seversky SEV-S2 $15,000 282.098 7:14:19

Gee Bee Z

For his December,1931attempt on the world 3-kilometer speed recordin Detroit, Lowell Bayles’1931 ThompsonTrophy-winningModel Z wasfitted with a

largercowling andmore powerful 800 hp.Pratt & Whitney R-1340. Bayles was killedwhen his plane crashedduring the attempt.

Manufacturer: Granville Brothers Aircraft, Inc., Springfield, MassachusettsSpan: 25 ft.Length: 17 ft. 9 inchesEngine: 800 hp. Pratt & Whitney Wasp Sr.

Gross weight: 2,415 lbs.Maximum speed: 309 mph

Specs & Stats

Jimmy Doolittle and the R-1 at the 1932 National Air Races in Cleveland

Manufacturer: Granville BrothersAircraft, Inc.Top speed: 270 mph.Speed: Cruising: 230 mph. Landing:80 mph.Cruising range: 1,000 miles.Wing span: 23 ft. 6 in.Length: 15 ft. 1 in.Engine: 535 hp. Pratt & Whitney

supercharged Wasp Jr.Gross weight: 2,280 lbs.

Specs & Stats

A replica of the H-1 was built by a team led by entrepreneur Jim Wright in 2002

Roscoe Turner with his number 25 Wedell-Williams and his number 29 Laird-Turner

FLIERS and FLYING MACHINES

Contact tpitts@coxohio.com. View this and other pages in the Great Planes series at DaytonDailyNews.com

Hughes and the H-1