Bee Aviation Associates, Inc. (Beecraft) built three prototype aircraft designed by William F. "Bill" Chana at

Montgomery Field Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport is a public airport in San Diego, California, United States, six miles (10 km) north of downtown San Diego. The airport covers and has three runways, one public helipad, and two private helipads. The r ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. None of the aircraft went into production.

History

The first aircraft built was the Wee Bee in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. The Wee Bee is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's lightest aircraft, weighing when empty. It had a two-cylinder engine and

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

. The pilot flew in a prone position, lying atop the fuselage. The

Honey Bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the ...

was the second plane, completed in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

. It had a single seat in an enclosed cabin. The

Queen Bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are develope ...

was the last and the largest of the three. It was completed in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and seated four. The Queen Bee and the Honey Bee had

V-tail The V-tail or ''vee-tail'' (sometimes called a butterfly tail or Rudlicki's V-tailGudmundsson S. (2013). "General Aviation Aircraft Design: Applied Methods and Procedures" (Reprint). Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 489. , 9780123973290) of an aircraf ...

Defunct

The Queen Bee and the Wee Bee were destroyed in a fire that destroyed the

San Diego Aerospace Museum The San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California. It is located in Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building, which is listed on the US National Register of Historic Plac ...

on February 22, 1978. The Honey Bee escaped the fire as it operated out of Montgomery Field at the time, owned by Walt Mooney. In 2004, the

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 300,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapters worldwide. ...

donated the Honey Bee to the San Diego Air & Space Museum, which is currently () awaiting restoration at their

Gillespie Field Gillespie Field is a county-owned public airport in El Cajon, California. It is located 11.5 miles (18.5 km; 10 nmi) northeast of downtown San Diego. History : ''Section reference dates.'' In 1942 the United States Marine Corps chose a s ...

annex. According to Aerofiles, two Honey Bees were built based on advertised plans. Because of its historic significance, a second Wee Bee was constructed and is now on display at the new San Diego Air & Space Museum.

References

External links

Picture of the Honey Bee

Smallest Plane in the World
(with pictures or the Wee Bee)

{{Beecraft aircraft Manufacturing companies based in San Diego Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States