Gee Bee Supersportster R-1 racer

[aerohead]

Most images of the Granville Brother's GeeBee series of racers don't show the plan-view, where you can actually see it's totally-streamlined shape from above or below.
The plane is very low drag, however it's so short it has little vertical stabilizer/rudder authority, and is prone to deadly spin.
Some test pilots would not even attempt to 'turn' the plane until they'd gained thousands of feet of altitude.
One flew the plane barefoot, as he could feel the onset of burble-point, at the threshold of flow separation and loss of control.
She was a high-performance race plane, and very unforgiving, claiming the lives of some who 'hurried' to learn her secrets.https://dorawings.com/1-144/geebee-s...-r1-r2-dw14402

[freebeard]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Rocketeer%20(film)


i.ebayimg.com/images/g/sG0AAOSwrklVBjVG/s-l640.jpg

[Piotrsko]

Um benjamin whazzhizname built a replica from the archived plans and found out that you get an aileron reversal at certian angles of attack, notably the pylon turns and landing. So the pilots of the time just made the situation worse and got flutter started. Since "Granny" welded the flying wires and did not heat treat/ stress relieve them it went down hill really fast after that causing a rain of aircraft parts.

You are correct in noting that the entire plane was essentially a streamlined fairing for the engine

There have been a couple replicas since with different airfoils that are reported to actually have pleasant handling for something that insane. I am not sure of the status of these since I gave up all my flying interests

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Um benjamin whazzhizname built a replica from the archived plans and found out that you get an aileron reversal at certian angles of attack, notably the pylon turns and landing. So the pilots of the time just made the situation worse and got flutter started. Since "Granny" welded the flying wires and did not heat treat/ stress relieve them it went down hill really fast after that causing a rain of aircraft parts.

You are correct in noting that the entire plane was essentially a streamlined fairing for the engine

There have been a couple replicas since with different airfoils that are reported to actually have pleasant handling for something that insane. I am not sure of the status of these since I gave up all my flying interests

Yeah, Glenn Edward's and his crew were all lost after attempting stall testing in the big Northrop flying wing at Muroc.
Without the torque of conventional tail-boom, weathervane and elevators there just wasn't anything they could do to recover.
With every mono-wing I've ever flown, I could always release all the controls and the plane would fly straight and level.

[Piotrsko]

I am pretty sure they went into an abrupt nose up accelerated stall that bent the plane apart. Jack Northrups airfoil selection was not standard. The reports say skin pieces were in a trailing pattern away from the impact area.

Hope this makes sense, it's an off speach day

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

I am pretty sure they went into an abrupt nose up accelerated stall that bent the plane apart. Jack Northrups airfoil selection was not standard. The reports say skin pieces were in a trailing pattern away from the impact area.

Hope this makes sense, it's an off speach day

All I heard was that, the plane ultimately pancaked in, suggesting a flat-spin prior to ground strike.
Bending does make sense though.
The U2 Dragon Lady will simply fold and separate it's wings if overstressed. And they say it's very easy to do.
I refueled them in Thailand and at South Base, at Edward's, and before they got the pogos inserted, wing droop was pretty dramatic.
Kelly Johnson designed them right on the ragged edge.

[freebeard]

Kelly Johnson designed them right on the ragged edge.

Nowadays we have Elon Musk's Raptor engines. When the exhaust goes green, you know it's over the edge.

[samwichse]

It's an engine-rich exhaust

[freebeard]

Here's a predecessor to the GeeBee, 25 MPH faster than the competition:

The DFW T.28 Floh; 1915’s Starfighter (I’m serious…stop laughing…)

Quirky handling never happened because the poor visibility made for poor landings.