Granville Brothers Aircraft Explained

Granville Brothers Aircraft
Type:Aircraft Manufacturer
Fate:Bankrupt
Foundation:1929
Defunct:1934
Industry:Aviation
Products:Aircraft
Key People:Zantford, Thomas, Robert, Mark, and Edward Granville
Num Employees:12

Granville Brothers Aircraft was an aircraft manufacturer from 1929 until its bankruptcy in 1934 that was located at the Springfield Airport in Springfield, Massachusetts. 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.

Aircraft

Data from:Aerofiles[1] The Granville Brothers completed 25 aircraft of which only two original aircraft are known to still exist.[2]

Model nameEngineDateNo.Notes
Model A (biplane)various19299Survivor at New England Air Museum
Model X Sportster95 hp Cirrus inline19301Entered the 5,000 mile Cirrus Derby,[3] finished 2nd overall, later converted to Model F with 135 hp Fairchild 6-390 engine
Model B Sportster95 hp Cirrus Hi-Drive inline19301rumored sent to Spain for Spanish Civil War
Model C Sportster95 hp Menasco B-4 inline19301[4] [5]
Model D Sportster125 hp Menasco C-4 inline19311
Model E Sportster110 hp Scarab radial19314One wing survives at the EAA AirVenture Museum
P&W Wasp Jr./Wasp C radial19311Won 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 SportsterLycoming R-680/Whirlwind19311Lycoming test bed, later fitted with 575 hp Wright Whirlwind
Model Z Super Sportster525 hp P&W Wasp Jr./Wasp Sr. radial193111931 Thompson Trophy winner
Model Q AscenderAeronca twin19311Canard[6] [7]
Model R-1 Super SportsterP&W Wasp T3D1/Hornet radial193111932 Thompson Trophy winner
Set world speed record, Shell Speed Dash winner
Model R-2 Super Sportster525 hp P&W Wasp Jr./Wasp T3D119311Cracked an oil line and did not finish in the 1932 Bendix, pilot Russell Thaw withdrew from the 1933 Bendix
Tiger/Mickey MouseGenet radial19321Designed by Ed Granville
Dismantled after a few flights[8] [9]
"Long Tail"Hornet radial19331R-1/R-2 Hybrid rebuilt from R-1 and 1932 R-2 wings
Named "Intestinal Fortitude" sold to Cecil Allen 1933
Menasco Pirate inline(1933)0Roadable airplane
Model C-4 FoursterWasp Jr. radial(1933) 0plans only, 4-seat airliner
Model C-6 Sixsterunk.(1933)0plans only, 6-seat airliner
Model C-8 EightsterHornet radial(1933)0uncompleted, 8-seat airliner
Model R-5Hornet radial(1933)0plans only, Basis for R-6
Model R-6CCurtiss Conqueror V-12(1934)0plans only, engine unavailable, Completed as R-6H
Hornet radial19341"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

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 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 Granvilles 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 Wright R-1820 Cyclone was first flown on 26 September 2013.

See also

Granville Homestead

References

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gee Bee . Aerofiles . 2008-10-23 . 2015-08-15.
  2. Graves, Darrell and Scott Brener. "The Granville Brothers Gee Bee." breners@aeroinc.com, D&C Aviation Limited, 1998. Retrieved: June 3, 2009.
  3. "Local Flier Killed in Crash at Detroit." Springfield Daily News, December 5, 1931. Retrieved: December 26, 2008.
  4. http://www.airminded.net/gbsportster/gbsportster.html "The Gee Bee Sportsters - Holcomb's Aerodrome"
  5. http://goldenageofaviation.org/geebeec.html "The Gee Bee Model's B,C,D & E"
  6. Harrison, Ronald W. Gee Bee Ascender, Journal AAHS Fall 1984, pp. 190–191.
  7. Hannan, Bill, le Gee Bee qui volait a l'envers, Le Fanatique de l' Aviation, No 161, page numbers unknown.
  8. Mendenhall, 1994, p.163
  9. Granville, 2000, pp.123-124
  10. http://www.rotecradialengines.com/customers/DennisEmms.htm "Dennis Emms Gee Bee "E" Model Project."
  11. http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/the_museums/springfield_history/ "Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History."