Robert L. Hall (1906–1991) was an American Air racing pilot and aircraft designer.

Career

Robert Leicester Hall was born in Taunton, Massachusetts 1905. After graduating in 1927 from the University of Michigan, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he joined the

Granville Brothers Aircraft Granville Brothers Aircraft was an aircraft manufacturer from 1929 until its bankruptcy in 1934 that was located at the Springfield Airport (Massachusetts), Springfield Airport in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Granville Brothers—Zantford, Th ...

, where he was the chief engineer. He designed the

Gee Bee Model Z The Granville Gee Bee Model Z was an American racing aircraft that was built, successfully raced to victory, then destroyed in a deadly crashall in 1931. It was the first of the Super Sportster aircraft built by Granville Brothers Aircraft of Sp ...

racer, the "City of Springfield," which swept the competition in every contest in the National Air Races of 1931. On September 5, Hall flew the Gee Bee Z to victory in the General Tire and Rubber Trophy race.

Lowell Bayles Lowell Richard Bayles (January 24, 1900 - December 5, 1931) was an American air race and stunt pilot from the "Golden Age of Air Racing." He was the winner of the 1931 Thompson Trophy flying the Gee Bee Model Z. He was killed during an attempt ...

flew the aircraft the next day to victory in the free-for-all event.

The Springfield Aircraft Co.

Hall left the Granville Brothers in 1927 to form The Springfield Aircraft Co and moved operations to the Bowles Agawam Airport. There he designed the ''

Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

'' racing aircraft, which he went on to race at the 1932 National Air Races, finished sixth at a speed of 215.5 mph. Afterwards there was speculation that its experimental Hamilton Standard propeller prevented the Wasp engine from running at full power. Hall was so disappointed with its performance that he dismantled and scrapped the plane after that race. He also designed the ''

Cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

'' racer, which was scheduled to race at the 1932 National Air Races by owner Frank Lynch but did not start the race due to engine problems.

The Grumman Years

Robert Hall later joined Grumman, where he helped design and test a series of planes that proved a major force during World War II. Serving as Chief Engineer and lead flight test pilot, he helped design and made the first flights of the

F4F Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the B ...

, the G-21 Goose in 1937, the XP-50 in 1941, the

F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy's dominant fighter in the second ...

in 1942, the

F7F Tigercat The Grumman F7F Tigercat is a heavy fighter aircraft that served with the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) from late in World War II until 1954. It was the first twin-engine fighter to be deployed by the USN. While ...

in 1943 and the

F8F Bearcat The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engined, carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other na ...

in 1944. On May 14, 1941 while flying the XP-50, it experienced an inflight turbocharger explosion while over Long Island Sound. Hall was forced to parachute to safety. As Grumman's chief engineer and vice president, he was instrumental in the design of the

F9F Panther The Grumman F9F Panther is an early carrier-based jet fighter designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Grumman. It was the first jet-powered fighter aircraft to see air-to-air combat with the United States Navy as well as bei ...

F9F Cougar The Grumman F9F/F-9 Cougar is a carrier-based jet-powered fighter aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Grumman. It was developed during the early 1950s on behalf of the United States Navy (US Navy) and United S ...

, F10F Jaguar and F11F Tiger jet fighters and the

Gulfstream I The Grumman Gulfstream I (company designation G-159) is a twin-turboprop business aircraft. It first flew on August 14, 1958. Design and development After first rejecting an idea to develop the Grumman Widgeon as an executive transport, the co ...

executive aircraft. He retired from Grumman in 1970.

Legacy

The Hall Bulldog Project is a project attempting to recreate the V-2 Bulldog. His son Eric Hall is co-founder of Hall Spars, which manufacturers sailboat rigging.Hall History
Retrieved 20 July 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Robert Air racing 1905 births 1991 deaths University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni People from Taunton, Massachusetts Aircraft designers