I saw one of these planes at an airshow some years ago. They really do look like they couldn’t get off the ground, even with slingshot assistance. BUT, they did a demo to prove it could. Amazing. :D
Keep pluggin’ and chuggin’, kid. You’ll get there! The process may take awhile and be frustrating and involve many more crumpled pieces of paper, but you’ll get there!
There was actually a fair amount of aerodynamic thought that went into the bee, When they built the original Model Z they were trying to design the smallest possible engine around a Pratt and Whitney R-985 radial. The later Model Rs (the plane we all think of when the name “Gee Bee” comes to mind was a little larger as it was designed to have a larger engine (at least for the R1) and had several aerodynamic improvements than the Z. The thing was that aerodynamic stability was not a priority so you had to be Delmar Benjamin to fly it well.
My first thought was the F-104 Starfighter. It’s nicknames were “The Widowmaker” and “The Manned Missile”. I remember, years ago, listening to a 104 pilot give an aircraft characteristics briefing basically explaining why it shouldn’t be able to fly – most notably those wings. They were about seven feet long for a total wingspan of 20 feet! After his briefing he had this look of sudden realization that “I’ve been flying a crowbar!”
We’ve all heard the inspirational parable about the bumblebee, which, aerodynamically speaking, should not be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know that and goes ahead and flies anyway. While it’s possible to take that as an endorsement of ignorance, I like to think of it as the power of belief over dogma.
But just in case, there’s the Gee Bee. What a beautiful aeroplane. What a testament to belief AND some serious engineering, and no small amount of guts. Jimmy Doolittle (yes, that Jimmy Doolittle) pushed one to nearly 300 miles per hour in 1932. (We’ll pause here to note that the Wright Brothers’ charter flight in Kitty Hawk was not three decades prior.) But it’s the stall speed that gets me. Stall speed, if you’re not an aviation nerd, doesn’t refer to a sputtering engine. It’s the speed below which a given wing cannot produce lift. In other words, it’s the speed below which an aircraft becomes just another big, heavy thing a lot higher in the air than it belongs.
The stall speed on the Gee Bee R-1 was 90 mph.
The Gee Bee was, in design terms, the smallest possible airframe wrapped around the biggest possible engine. It’s amazing there was enough room for the pilot. Especially if he brought his balls.
M2MM over 6 years ago
I saw one of these planes at an airshow some years ago. They really do look like they couldn’t get off the ground, even with slingshot assistance. BUT, they did a demo to prove it could. Amazing. :D
AlanM over 6 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWL_DSurFRU
flyertom over 6 years ago
There is an aerodynamic principle that states, “Given a large enough engine, even a brick will fly.”
Uncle Bob over 6 years ago
Keep pluggin’ and chuggin’, kid. You’ll get there! The process may take awhile and be frustrating and involve many more crumpled pieces of paper, but you’ll get there!
sandpiper over 6 years ago
Probably also the best answer for the bee. Not supposed to be able to fly but ignores the nays and goes when and where it pleases.
Masterskrain Premium Member over 6 years ago
Essentially a large sewer pipe with a HUGE engine and tiny wings! HORRIBLY unstable…
Kroykali over 6 years ago
Essentially an airplane built around an engine, like the WW2 Corsair.
Kroykali over 6 years ago
I liked the Gee Bees before they went disco.
Darwinskeeper over 6 years ago
There was actually a fair amount of aerodynamic thought that went into the bee, When they built the original Model Z they were trying to design the smallest possible engine around a Pratt and Whitney R-985 radial. The later Model Rs (the plane we all think of when the name “Gee Bee” comes to mind was a little larger as it was designed to have a larger engine (at least for the R1) and had several aerodynamic improvements than the Z. The thing was that aerodynamic stability was not a priority so you had to be Delmar Benjamin to fly it well.
Darwinskeeper over 6 years ago
http://theoldmotor.com/?p=153574
Darwinskeeper over 6 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dJjeMQSjPA
tiomax over 6 years ago
My first thought was the F-104 Starfighter. It’s nicknames were “The Widowmaker” and “The Manned Missile”. I remember, years ago, listening to a 104 pilot give an aircraft characteristics briefing basically explaining why it shouldn’t be able to fly – most notably those wings. They were about seven feet long for a total wingspan of 20 feet! After his briefing he had this look of sudden realization that “I’ve been flying a crowbar!”
William Bednar Premium Member over 6 years ago
Hope, stubbornness, and repeal of the law of gravity.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 6 years ago
Don’t enjoy it don’t read it.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 6 years ago
Frazz
By Jef Mallett
We’ve all heard the inspirational parable about the bumblebee, which, aerodynamically speaking, should not be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know that and goes ahead and flies anyway. While it’s possible to take that as an endorsement of ignorance, I like to think of it as the power of belief over dogma.
But just in case, there’s the Gee Bee. What a beautiful aeroplane. What a testament to belief AND some serious engineering, and no small amount of guts. Jimmy Doolittle (yes, that Jimmy Doolittle) pushed one to nearly 300 miles per hour in 1932. (We’ll pause here to note that the Wright Brothers’ charter flight in Kitty Hawk was not three decades prior.) But it’s the stall speed that gets me. Stall speed, if you’re not an aviation nerd, doesn’t refer to a sputtering engine. It’s the speed below which a given wing cannot produce lift. In other words, it’s the speed below which an aircraft becomes just another big, heavy thing a lot higher in the air than it belongs.
The stall speed on the Gee Bee R-1 was 90 mph.
The Gee Bee was, in design terms, the smallest possible airframe wrapped around the biggest possible engine. It’s amazing there was enough room for the pilot. Especially if he brought his balls.