Christmas Bullet
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The Christmas Bullet, later known as the Cantilever Aero Bullet (sometimes referred to as the Christmas Strutless Biplane), was an American single-seat
cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...
wing
biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
. It is considered by many to be among the worst aircraft ever constructed for its time.


Design and development

Dr.
William Whitney Christmas William Whitney Christmas, M.D. (September 1, 1865 – April 14, 1960) was a physician, failed aircraft designer, and supposed con man. He was one of many claimants for an early design of the aileron. He was a vice-president of the General Dev ...
(1865–1960), who had no experience in aircraft design or aeronautical work, claimed to have built an aircraft of his own design in 1908 that was lost in a crash. After a second aircraft was supposedly built, called the Red Bird, later modified into the Red Bird II, Christmas founded the Christmas Aeroplane Company based in
Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
, in 1910. No evidence beyond his own claims has ever been found for the existence of either of these aircraft. By 1912, the company became the Durham Christmas Aeroplane Sales & Exhibition Company and later the Cantilever Aero Company after moving to
Copiague, New York Copiague ( ) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet on Long Island (and census-designated place) in the Town of Babylon, New York, Town of Babylon, in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was ...
, in 1918. Christmas convinced two brothers, Henry and Alfred McCarry, to back him. They then paid a visit to Continental Aircraft Company of
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, where Christmas convinced management that his planned aircraft would be the key element in an audacious plot to kidnap
Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
of Germany. Two designs were proposed, a single-seat "scout" and a three-place "fighting machine". The single-seat "Christmas Bullet" featured an all-wood construction with a
veneer Veneer may refer to: Materials * Masonry veneer, a thin facing layer of brick * Stone veneer, a thin facing layer of stone * Veneer (dentistry), a cosmetic treatment for teeth * Wood veneer, a thin facing layer of wood Arts and entertainment * ' ...
-clad
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
. Despite his claims to the contrary, neither design feature reduced
aerodynamic drag In fluid dynamics, drag, sometimes referred to as fluid resistance, is a force acting opposite to the direction of motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding fluid. This can exist between two fluid layers, two solid surfaces, or b ...
nor was he among the first to use this method of construction; the majority of German
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
–era two-seater aircraft used for bombing and reconnaissance were similarly constructed. The "Bullet" was powered by a prototype Liberty 6 engine. Although the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
had been persuaded to lend an engine, the proviso was that the prototype engine was to be fitted into an airframe for ground testing only. The design had a serious flaw in that it lacked any kind of struts or braces for the wings, with Christmas insisting that they should be flexible. Control of the aircraft was meant to be achieved by
wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft or kite. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposit ...
to its flying surfaces. Although the Chief Engineer at Continental,
Vincent Burnelli Vincent Justus Burnelli (November 22, 1895 – June 22, 1964) was an American aeronautics engineer, instrumental in furthering the lifting body and flying wing concept. Biography Burnelli was born on November 22, 1895, in Temple, Texas. ...
, tried to institute changes, the "Christmas Bullet" was completed with the original design features intact. Construction materials were scrounged from available wood and steel stock and were not "aircraft grade", which was also a concern to Burnelli.


Operational history

On its maiden flight in January 1919, the wings of the "Bullet" peeled from the fuselage and the aircraft crashed, killing the pilot, Cuthbert Mills. The destruction of the prototype Liberty engine was never revealed to the US Army and a second Bullet was built powered by a
Hall-Scott L-6 The Liberty L-6 was a six-cylinder water-cooled inline aircraft engine developed in the United States during World War I. Design and development The Liberty L-6, which developed 200–215 hp, was built by the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corp. ...
engine. Despite the crash, Christmas placed an ad stating that the Christmas Bullet achieved a 197 mph top speed demonstrated in front of Col Harmon at Central Park, Long Island. The second aircraft was displayed in
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
on 8 March 1919 as the "First Strutless Airplane". It was also destroyed on its first flight, again with the loss of the test pilot, Lt. Allington Joyce Jolly. The project was abandoned before its
United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...
(USAAS) evaluation. Following the crash of the second Bullet, Christmas continued to campaign for more funding for further projects, seeking out private and government sources, claiming "hundreds" of patents or patent submissions based on his aeronautical research. His far-fetched assertions were proved untrue but he claimed that he sold his unusual wing design to the US Army. A contemporary technical description with photographs and drawings appeared in ''
Flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...
,'' 13 February 1919, claiming that "it would seem that such construction would result in a low factor of safety, but the designer claims a safety factor of seven throughout".


Specifications (First prototype)


See also


References


Notes


Bibliography

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External links

{{commons category, Christmas Bullet
Aerofiles A Century of American AviationAerospecweb
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Bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...
Biplanes Sesquiplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1919 Aircraft flown once