The Granville Gee Bee Model Z was an American

racing aircraft Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a prev ...

of the 1930s, the first of the Super Sportster aircraft built by Granville Brothers Aircraft of Springfield, Massachusetts, with the sole intent of winning the Thompson Trophy, which it did in 1931. However, it soon suffered a fatal crash during a world speed record attempt, starting the reputation of the Gee Bee aircraft as killers.

Design and development

Suffering from the effects of the Great Depression, the Granville Brothers decided in July 1931 to build an aircraft to compete in that fall's Thompson Trophy competition at the

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. They hoped that a victory in the prestigious race would lead to additional orders for their line of sporting aircraft."Gee Bee Model Z
"] ''Fantasy of Flight Air Museum''. Retrieved: May 26, 2010. Constructed in less than five weeks at a cost of under $5,000

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

, the Gee Bee (for "Granville Brothers") Model Z, named ''City of Springfield'', was a small, tubby airplane. It was essentially the smallest possible

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aero ...

constructed around the most powerful available engine of a suitable size,Donald 1997, pp. 466–467. a supercharged Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior (R-985) 0

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

, producing .

Operational history

First flying on August 22, 1931, the Gee Bee Z quickly proved to be tricky to fly, but fulfilled every expectation with regards to its speed. Flown by pilot Lowell Bayles, the Gee Bee Z attained the speed of Granville Brothers Gee Bee Z "City of Springfield."
''The Museum of Flight''. Retrieved: May 26, 2010. at the National Air Races during the Shell Speed Dash qualifying on September 1, then went on to win the Goodyear Trophy race, run over a course of , the next day at an average speed of . On the September 5, the aircraft's engineer, Bob Hall, flew the Gee Bee Z to victory in the

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Trophy race, then won again the next day in a free-for-all event. In the Thompson Trophy Race on September 7, Bayles was triumphant, winning with an average speed of , winning over competitors including

Jimmy Doolittle James Harold Doolittle (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American military general and aviation pioneer who received the Medal of Honor for his daring raid on Japan during World War II. He also made early coast-to-coast flights ...

, James "Jimmy" Wedell,

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, Dale Jackson, Bill Ong,

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, and Hall, who finished fourth in a Gee Bee Model Y."Gee Bee Z."
''Air Racing History''. Retrieved May 26, 2010. Following the Thompson Trophy race, the Gee Bee Z was re-engined with a larger, Wasp Senior radial, in preparation for an attempt at establishing a world speed record for landplanes at Wayne County Airport in

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. Unofficially clocked at on a trial run, it surpassed the previous record of by attaining on December 1, 1931, but the margin was too small for the record to be officially registered. A further record attempt on December 5, 1931, would end in tragedy, the aircraft suffering a wing failure and rolling into the ground, killing Bayles. It was suspected that the Model Z's crash during a speed run in December 1931 was due to an unexpected failure of the gasoline tank cap, which may have come loose and passed through the windshield. A bullet-proof

windscreen The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. ...

and internal fuel caps were part of the new design. Analysis of motion picture film of the event examined frame-by-frame, is inconclusive. Control surface flutter is a more likely cause. It is theorized that the gas cap struck the pilot and incapacitated him, causing a sudden upset in pitch that led to uncontrolled flutter in the right aileron which imparted undue stress on that wing, causing it to pitch up sharply and fail. In addition, tests of a reproduction aircraft have shown that the Gee Bee Z was susceptible to aerodynamic flutter at high speed. The 1932 R-1 and its sister ship, the R-2, were the successors of the previous year's Thompson Trophy-winning Model Z.

Legacy

Film of the crash of the Gee Bee Z has become some of the most well known footage from the era of air racing. The crash also helped to establish the reputation of Gee Bee racing aircraft as killers. The Super Sportster design would be refined into the Gee Bee Model R for the 1932 air race season. Two reproductions of the Gee Bee Z have been constructed. One, a faithful reproduction of the original aircraft, was constructed by Jeff Eicher and Kevin Kimball of Mount Dora, Florida, and is housed in the

Fantasy of Flight Fantasy of Flight is an aviation museum in Polk City, Florida. It opened in November 1995, to house Kermit Weeks' collection of aircraft that, until Hurricane Andrew damaged many in 1992, were housed at the Weeks Air Museum in Tamiami, Florid ...

museum in

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. The other, constructed by Bill Turner in 1978, features extended wings and fuselage for better flight characteristics. It appeared in 1991 as both a static and flying prop in the Walt Disney feature film '' The Rocketeer''; it is now on display at the

Museum of Flight The Museum of Flight is a private non-profit air and space museum in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is located at the southern end of King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in the city of Tukwila, immediately south of Seattle.< ...

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Specifications (Gee Bee Model Z Super Sportster)

Popular culture

Kermit Weeks Kermit Weeks (born July 14, 1953 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is an American aviation enthusiast, pilot, and aircraft collector. He has competed in aerobatics, designed aircraft, and promoted aviation and vintage aircraft restoration. Oil and g ...

, founder of

, used a Gee Bee Model Z as his main character "Zee" in a series of children's books set around the interwar period. "Historic racers inspire kids' books." ''Orlando Sentinel'' (Orlando, Florida), October 8, 2007, p. J1. A modified replica of the Gee Bee Model Z appeared in the 1991 Walt Disney feature film, '' The Rocketeer''.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Bowers, Pete M. ''The Gee Bee Racers''. Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1965. * Donald, David, ed. ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. London: Orbis, 1997. .

External links

{{Granville Brothers aircraft Granville Brothers aircraft 1930s United States sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Racing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1931