Granville Brothers (Gee Bee) Model R

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gee_Bee_Model_R

The Gee Bee Model R Super Sportster was a special purpose racing aircraft made
by Granville Brothers Aircraft of Springfield, Massachusetts at the
now-abandoned Springfield Airport.[1] Gee Bee stands for Granville Brothers.

*Design and development

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

Assistant Chief Engineer[2] Howell "Pete" Miller and Zantford "Granny" Granville
spent three days of wind tunnel testing at NYU with aeronautical engineering
professor Alexander Klemin. The aircraft had a very peculiar design. Granville
reasoned that a teardrop-shaped fuselage — especially as seen from directly
above — 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.

*Operational history

The R-1 won the 1932 Thompson Trophy race, piloted by Jimmy Doolittle. He also
set a new world landplane speed record of 476 km/h (296 mph) in the Shell Speed
Dash. The distinction of a landplane record was noteworthy because, at that
time, specialized speed seaplanes outran landplanes (e.g. the Macchi M.C.72 with
over 700 km/h). The Springfield Union 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."

The R-1 rapidly earned a reputation as a potentially very dangerous machine. The
small wings, very low polar moment of inertia, and tiny control surfaces made
for an aircraft that could rapidly get away from all but the most skilled
pilots.[3] This shortcoming was common to most air racers of the day. During the
1933 Bendix Trophy race, racing pilot Russell Boardman was killed, flying Number
11. After taking off from a refueling stop in Indianapolis, Indiana, the R-1
stalled, and crashed.[4]

The R-1 was later repaired and now incorporated a fuselage extension of
approximately 18 inches, creating the "Long Tail Racer." It was decided not to
rebuild the wings but to use the original wings from the R-2, which had been
removed in February 1933 when a new wing with flaps was built and installed.
This aircraft crashed in a landing overrun incident soon after it was built but
Roy Minor, the pilot, was not severely injured. After another rebuild, the Long
Tail Racer was sold to Cecil Allen. Allen, against the advice of the Granvilles,
modified it by installing larger gas tanks aft of its normal center of gravity,
which apparently made the aircraft unstable in pitch from tail-heaviness. Allen
took off with a full fuel tank, crashed, and was killed. After this final crash,
the aircraft was never rebuilt

*Specifications (Gee Bee Super Sportster R-1)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 17 ft 8 in (5.38 m)
Wingspan: 25 ft (7.62 m)
Height: 8 ft 2 in (2.48 m)
Wing area: 75 ft² (6.97 m²)
Empty weight: 1840 lbs (834 kg)
Loaded weight: 2,415 lbs (1,095 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 3075 lbs (1394.8 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp 1,344 cubic inch (22 l) displacement
Air Cooled 9 cylinder radial, 800 hp (596.5 kW)
Aspect ratio: 6.1 ,
Incidence: 2.5 Degrees

Performance
Maximum speed: 294.38 mph (473.8 km/h)
Cruise speed: 260 mph (418.4 km/h)
Stall speed: 90 mph (144 km/h)
Range: 925 miles (1488 km) 630 miles, full throttle
full throttle: 2.14 hours
cruising: 3.65 hours

Note that the R-2 originally used a 550 hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior
nine cylinder radial powerplant, as the aircraft was designed primarily as a
cross-country racer with increased tankage that did not require the larger 800
hp Wasp. In 1933, the R-2 was modified for closed-circuit racing and was fitted
with the more powerful engine and cowling of the R-1 version. Other
modifications included a larger wing, equipped with flaps.




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