Tuesday, February 6, 2024

A plane in need of a diet

 


15 comments:

  1. Looks like the Gee Bee Model R-1 that won the 1932 Thompson Trophy race piloted by Jimmy Doolittle. Those twitchy beasts needed growth hormones, not a diet.

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  2. That's what you get when make as little airplane as possible to get your racing engine airborne. As noted above, it won.

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  3. Didn't Wally Post also fly one of those?

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  4. One of the first scale models I ever built.

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  5. Hard to beat the sound of a radial, especially when starting.

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  6. Golly Pevey, we're going to the Nationals!

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    Replies
    1. Clifford are you eyes painted on ?

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    2. Main Title - Takeoff of the Gee Bee - The Rocketeer James Horner
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXbL0iukdCo

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  7. This is Delmar Benjamin's replica of the GeeBee R-2. The original R-2 was intended for the Bendix Trophy cross-country race, and used a Pratt & Whitney R-985 engine.
    The R-1 was intended for the Thompson Trophy event, and used an R-1340 P&W.
    I saw Delmar's aerobatic routine with his R-2 in the early 90's. Amazing little beast.

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  8. It has the correct tear-drop shape, fat end forward, as fluid dynamics demands.

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  9. Only looks fat because, other than the engine--which could not be miniaturized--, the other parts of the airplane were made as small as possible.

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