Anybody else have an appreciation for '30s racing planes and radial engines?

[Ace-Garageguy]

Travel Air Type-R "Mystery Ship" video (reproduction)

[Snake45]

I believe you can still get a Hawk/Testor model of that airplane in 1/48.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I believe you can still get a Hawk/Testor model of that airplane in 1/48.

Yes sir. There are a few on Ebay at the moment for 99 cents.

I'm looking at the possibility of stretching one of my 1/26 Gee Bee kits into a credible representation of this thing.  

[Snake45]

Yes sir. There are a few on Ebay at the moment for 99 cents.

I'm looking at the possibility of stretching one of my 1/26 Gee Bee kits into a credible representation of this thing.  

If you're gonna do that, why not just modify/customize it into whatever form you want? Build your own design. That's what they were doing back in the day.

[Old Nasty]

Didn't Howard Hughes build a similar aircraft in an attempt to set a speed record?  I remember my dad saying something about it.  

[Draggon]

Love it. Taildraggers are fun to land 

[Snake45]

Didn't Howard Hughes build a similar aircraft in an attempt to set a speed record?  I remember my dad saying something about it.  

Hughes H-1 was of the same era, maybe a couple years later. And it did set the speed record.

[Earl Marischal]

What a beautiful aeroplane. Thanks for posting.

steve

[cobraman]

Good video. I was hoping there would be a Gee Bee in it as well.

[CometMan]

I worked on some radial engines when I got my A&P license back in the early '90s, the were pretty interesting to work on.

[Flynlo]

I work on and maintain vintage aircraft for fun. Even though I have an A& P license this is not how I make my living.

I specialize in WACOs, 1936 custom Cabins specifically. I have one of these as a restoration project. Told the wife it was a 10 year project...thank God that I didn't tell her from when!

http:// 

1936 Waco ZQC-6 Custom Cabin - art deco cool and if you get cold, just roll up the windows and turn on the cabin heat!

 

 

 

 

WACOs. 

[Flynlo]

Yes sir. There are a few on Ebay at the moment for 99 cents.

I'm looking at the possibility of stretching one of my 1/26 Gee Bee kits into a credible representation of this thing.  

Google "Gee Bee QED" a stretched version of the Gee Bee R1/2 which was recently built in full size "tribute" form, (not an exact recreation". This is pretty cool as well!

[Ace-Garageguy]

 

http:// 

1936 Waco ZQC-6 Custom Cabin - art deco cool and if you get cold, just roll up the windows and turn on the cabin heat!

Beautiful ship, sir. 

Still my all-time favorite airplane has to be the Staggerwing Beech with retractable gear...

                                                    

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Google "Gee Bee QED" a stretched version of the Gee Bee R1/2 which was recently built in full size "tribute" form, (not an exact recreation". This is pretty cool as well!

Delmar Benjamin's full-scale R2 replica is pretty wonderful too.   

[Sixties Sam]

I always liked that plane with its curved wing tips and big wheel pants! Nice video!

Sam

[cobraman]

Beautiful ship, sir. 

Still my all-time favorite airplane has to be the Staggerwing Beech with retractable gear...

                                                    

 

Just watched a old movie on TCM that was about a woman air race. A Staggerwing was one of the featured aircraft. Very cool.

[unclescott58]

Beautiful ship, sir. 

Still my all-time favorite airplane has to be the Staggerwing Beech with retractable gear...

                                                    

 

Hands down, the Beech Stagger Wing is my all time favorite airplane. And I love AMT's model of it.

 

[unclescott58]

Delmar Benjamin's full-scale R2 replica is pretty wonderful too.   

Another beautiful airplane. But, didn't the real thing have a reputation as being an SOB to fly, and especially to land? I've seen footage on YouTube showing at least one crash of one, killing the pilot. And if I remember correctly the pilot was suppose be one of the better pilot out there.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Another beautiful airplane. But, didn't the real thing have a reputation as being an SOB to fly, and especially to land? I've seen footage on YouTube showing at least one crash of one, killing the pilot. And if I remember correctly the pilot was suppose be one of the better pilot out there.

Yes, the real airplane had a bad reputation. But if you research the history of the aircraft and its pilots thoroughly, you'll find its "killer" moniker was somewhat undeserved...largely the result of the sensation-chasing press and public knee-jerk reacting to something they don't understand...as they usually do. One fatal crash was the result of an oil cap coming loose, smashing the canopy, and causing the pilot to lose control. This is not a fault with the aircraft itself, rather a fault of the ground crew who "secured" the cap. Another fatality was the result of an owner fitting larger fuel tanks, in direct defiance of the Gee Bee's builders recommendations, and in the process changing the little plane's center of gravity to the point it became uncontrollable in flight. A later crash was the result of a mechanic leaving a rag inside the engine cowling. The rag got sucked into the air intake, killing the engine during takeoff, and the pilot. There were problems with directional stability on the earlier ships, but larger fin and rudder surfaces fixed that.

Jimmy Doolittle (a rather well-known pilot with some pretty outstanding accomplishments in the field of aviation) supposedly referred to the Gee Bee as "the most dangerous airplane I've ever flown" but also as worth the risk, as it was, at the time, the fastest aircraft in the world. He also said "“She’s got plenty of stuff. I gave her the gun for just a few seconds and she hit 260 like a bullet without any change for momentum and without diving for speed, and she had plenty of reserve miles in her when I shut her down.”

                                    

The reality is that ALL these old racing planes were a handful, and were only flyable by the best of the best of pilots at the time.

The Big Radial racers of the 30`s all shared some common traits, big engines, small airframes, large fuel capacity, high wing loading, tall gear, and they were for the most part blind on take off and landing. 
They often were operated from poorly prepared short strips, demanding a slow approach speed, and a 3 point landing, and if they had brakes they were generally weak and not very effective. 
With all of the above is it any wonder few survived intact.
The 30s racers were single purpose, no compromise machines

The Gee Bee R2 built by Delmar Benjamin and Steve Wolf was constructed with a great deal of attention paid to making it an absolutely accurate replica, partly with the intent of proving whether or not the plane WAS really as dangerous as people of the 1930s would have us believe. The R2 replica Mr. Benjamin is seen flying in the video clip above seems to be an entirely capable machine in the hands of a very competent (and well above-average) pilot. I believe it had well over 1000 hours on it when it was retired, with only two or three minor incidents, and minimal damage.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[cobraman]

I like that Stagger Wing a lot. So much in fact I just ordered the 1/48 AMT kit on ebay.

[Snake45]

The Big Radial racers of the 30`s all shared some common traits, big engines, small airframes, large fuel capacity, high wing loading, tall gear, and they were for the most part blind on take off and landing. 
They often were operated from poorly prepared short strips, demanding a slow approach speed, and a 3 point landing, and if they had brakes they were generally weak and not very effective. 
With all of the above is it any wonder few survived intact.
The 30s racers were single purpose, no compromise machines

 

And the ultimate expression of this concept was the Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat, which I often think of as "The 427 Cobra of the Sky."

[Ace-Garageguy]

And the ultimate expression of this concept was the Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat, which I often think of as "The 427 Cobra of the Sky."

  And let's not forget the XP-47J, the fastest of the WW II-era aircraft, clocked at 505 MPH in level flight on August 4, 1944.

                                                       

The record stood until August 21, 1989, when a highly modified Bearcat did 523.6 MPH.