Summary
Granville Brothers Aircraft was an aircraft manufacturer from 1929 until its bankruptcy in 1934 that was located at the Springfield Airport in Springfield, Massachusetts.[1] The Granville Brothers—Zantford, Thomas, Robert, Mark and Edward—are best known for the three Gee Bee Super Sportster racers, the Models Z, R-1 and R-2. Prior to building aircraft, Zantford ran a mobile aircraft repair service.
 | |
| Company type | Aircraft Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aviation |
| Founded | 1929 |
| Defunct | 1934 |
| Fate | Bankrupt |
| Successor | Granville, Miller & De Lackner |
| Headquarters | Springfield, Massachusetts |
Key people | Zantford, Thomas, Robert, Mark, and Edward Granville |
| Products | Aircraft |
Number of employees | 12 |
Aircraft edit
Data from:Aerofiles[1] The Granville Brothers completed 25 aircraft of which only two original aircraft are known to still exist.[2]
| Model name | Engine | Date | No. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model A (biplane) | various | 1929 | 9 | Survivor at New England Air Museum |
| Model X Sportster | 95 hp Cirrus inline | 1930 | 1 | Entered the 5,000 mile Cirrus Derby,[3] finished 2nd overall, later converted to Model F with 135 hp Fairchild 6-390 engine |
| Model B Sportster | 95 hp Cirrus Hi-Drive inline | 1930 | 1 | rumored sent to Spain for Spanish Civil War |
| Model C Sportster | 95 hp Menasco B-4 inline | 1930 | 1 | [4][5] |
| Model D Sportster | 125 hp Menasco C-4 inline | 1931 | 1 | |
| Model E Sportster | 110 hp Scarab radial | 1931 | 4 | One wing survives at the EAA AirVenture Museum |
| Model YW Senior Sportster | P&W Wasp Jr./Wasp C radial | 1931 | 1 | Won more races and more prize money than any other Gee Bee, Maude Tait won the 1931 Aerol trophy, set the closed course speed record for women and won the Shell Oil speed trophy for women. It competed in the 1931 and 1933 Thompson trophy races finishing 4th and 5th |
| Model YL Senior Sportster | Lycoming R-680/Whirlwind | 1931 | 1 | Lycoming test bed, later fitted with 575 hp Wright Whirlwind |
| Model Z Super Sportster | 525 hp P&W Wasp Jr./Wasp Sr. radial | 1931 | 1 | 1931 Thompson Trophy winner |
| Model Q Ascender | Aeronca twin | 1931 | 1 | Canard[6][7] |
| Model R-1 Super Sportster | P&W Wasp T3D1/Hornet radial | 1931 | 1 | 1932 Thompson Trophy winner Set world speed record, Shell Speed Dash winner |
| Model R-2 Super Sportster | 525 hp P&W Wasp Jr./Wasp T3D1 | 1931 | 1 | Cracked an oil line and did not finish in the 1932 Bendix, pilot Russell Thaw withdrew from the 1933 Bendix |
| Tiger/Mickey Mouse | Genet radial | 1932 | 1 | Designed by Ed Granville Dismantled after a few flights[8][9] |
| "Long Tail" | Hornet radial | 1933 | 1 | R-1/R-2 Hybrid rebuilt from R-1 and 1932 R-2 wings Named "Intestinal Fortitude" sold to Cecil Allen 1933 |
| Aeromobile | Menasco Pirate inline | (1933) | 0 | Roadable airplane |
| Model C-4 Fourster | Wasp Jr. radial | (1933) | 0 | plans only, 4-seat airliner |
| Model C-6 Sixster | unk. | (1933) | 0 | plans only, 6-seat airliner |
| Model C-8 Eightster | Hornet radial | (1933) | 0 | uncompleted, 8-seat airliner |
| Model R-5 | Hornet radial | (1933) | 0 | plans only, Basis for R-6 |
| Model R-6C | Curtiss Conqueror V-12 | (1934) | 0 | plans only, engine unavailable, Completed as R-6H |
| Model R-6H | Hornet radial | 1934 | 1 | "Q.E.D." built for MacRobertson Race Set Mexico City to Washington D.C. record as "Conquistador del Cielo". Survivor in a museum in, Ciudad Lerdo, Mexico |
Replica and reproduction Gee Bee aircraft edit
A Model E replica was flown and wrecked before being donated to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. Another Model E replica was being built in Australia.[10]
A replica of Florence Klingensmith's Model YL was completed in 1984 powered by a 300 hp (220 kW) Lycoming R-680.
A Model Z replica first flown in 1978 was used by the Walt Disney Company in the film The Rocketeer (1991), which is now on display at the Seattle Museum of Flight. A second Gee Bee Z replica was sold to Fantasy of Flight.
The New England Air Museum and the San Diego Air & Space Museum have each completed replica R-1s with help from the Granville's under the agreement that the aircraft will never be flown. The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio also has an R-1 replica on display as of June 2018. The Springfield, Massachusetts Museum of Springfield History has a full size static fiberglass replica of the R-1 hanging in the atrium.[11] A Gee Bee R-2 Super Sportster replica flown extensively since 1991 is now at Fantasy of Flight.
A highly modified replica of the Gee Bee R-6 powered by a 1,425 hp (1,063 kW) Wright R-1820 Cyclone was first flown on 26 September 2013.
See also edit
- New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 207: Granville Homestead
References edit
Notes edit
- ^ a b "Gee Bee". Aerofiles. 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2015-08-15.
- ^ Graves, Darrell and Scott Brener. "The Granville Brothers Gee Bee." breners@aeroinc.com, D&C Aviation Limited, 1998. Retrieved: June 3, 2009.
- ^ "Local Flier Killed in Crash at Detroit." Springfield Daily News, December 5, 1931. Retrieved: December 26, 2008.
- ^ "The Gee Bee Sportsters - Holcomb's Aerodrome" The Gee Bee Sportsters - Holcomb's Aerodrome. Retrieved: October 22, 2009.
- ^ "The Gee Bee Model's B,C,D & E" The Gee Bee Model's B,C,D & E. Retrieved: May 13, 2013.
- ^ Harrison, Ronald W. Gee Bee Ascender, Journal AAHS Fall 1984, pp. 190–191.
- ^ Hannan, Bill, le Gee Bee qui volait a l'envers, Le Fanatique de l' Aviation, No 161, page numbers unknown.
- ^ Mendenhall, 1994, p.163
- ^ Granville, 2000, pp.123-124
- ^ "Dennis Emms Gee Bee "E" Model Project." Archived 2017-09-08 at the Wayback Machine rotecradialengines.com, Rotec Engineering. Retrieved: June 3, 2009.
- ^ "Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History."springfieldmuseums.org. Retrieved: August 30, 2010.
Bibliography edit
- Benjamin, Delmar and Steve Wolf. Gee Bee. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI Publishing Co., 1993. ISBN 0-87938-820-X.
- Bowers, Pete M. The Gee Bee Racers — Number 51. Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1965.
- Granville, J.I. Farmers Take Flight. Springfield, Massachusetts: Copy Cat Print Shop, 2000. ISBN 0-9702493-1-4.
- Haffke, Henry A. Gee Bee: The Real Story of the Granville Brothers and Their Marvelous Airplanes.Colorado Springs, Colorado: VIP Publishers, Inc., 1989. ISBN 0-934575-04-5.
- Mendenhall, Charles A. and Tom Murphy. The Gee Bee Racers: A Legacy of Speed. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 1994. ISBN 0-933424-05-1.
- Schmid, S.H. and Truman C. Weaver. The Golden Age of Air Racing: Pre-1940, 2nd rev. edition (EAA Historical Series). Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing Co., 1991. ISBN 0-940000-00-8.
- Those Incredible Gee Bees (VHS 60 min). Springfield, Massachusetts: Studio 16, 1992.
External links edit
- Geebee Model Q Ascender video
- Airplane Crash of Gee Bee Racer, 1931 on YouTube