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The Gee Bees--a series of 1930s racing planes--are perhaps the most famous, or infamous, aircraft in aviation history, depending on one's viewpoint. During the early 1930s, the Gee Bees were among the fastest planes of the day and won several prestigious National Air Races, but several pilots also lost their lives while flying them.
- National Air Races
The event began in 1920 when New York World publisher Joseph...
- Thompson Trophy
The major air racing trophy contests of the 1920s and 1930s...
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Wings can be attached to the aircraft fuselage in different...
- National Air Races
From this airport came a succession of Gee Bee planes: biplanes, Sportsters, Senior Sportsters, and racers. All were a contribution to the advancement of aviation during a period in history when civilians made The Golden Age of Aviation.
Following the success of their Models Y and Z, the Granville Brothers of Springfield, MA developed the R-1 and R-2 models for the 1932 air racing season. (Gee Bee is a "spelling out" of the brothers' GB initials.) The aircraft were similar, differing chiefly in powerplant and cowling design. Both had fabric-covered welded-steel fuselages and wooden wings and tail surfaces with Haskelite covering.
Oct 7, 2021 · The Granville Brothers and their famous Gee Bee Racers led the aviation world into the Golden Age of Racing, striving to be the fastest airplanes in the world and to capture the coveted Thompson Trophy. This lecture will walk you through the men and women, their machines, and the history they made along the way.
- 21 Edwards St, Springfield, 01103, MA
- lectures@springfieldmuseums.org
- (413) 314-6488
- October 7, 2021
Aug 31, 2021 · Written by Maggie Humberston, Curator of Library and Archives at the Springfield Museums. Lowell R. Bayles was a nationally celebrated pilot who flew Springfield’s famous Gee Bee racing planes to victory during the Golden Age of Aviation.
The brothers produced a total of 25 airplanes during their five years in the aviation business and only two original Gee Bee airplanes have survived. There is a Model A in the Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association museum and the second is a Model R6-H (a stretched 2-seat R-1), exhibited in a Mexican museum.
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Mar 10, 2017 · Doolittle and Gehlbach would be the last pilots to finish a race flying the Gee Bee R-1 and R-2. Both were brilliant, accomplished pilots who considered the airplanes fast but unstable—“too hot” for just anybody to fly.
