Granville Brothers Gee Bee Z "City of Springfield" on display in the Great gallery of the Museum of Flight, Boeing Field Seattle
Granville Brothers Gee Bee Z "City of Springfield" on display in the Great gallery of the Museum of Flight, Boeing Field Seattle. The Model Z was built to win the 1931 Thompson Trophy Race at the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio. With a big engine incorporated into the smallest possible airframe the plane was fast, but tricky to fly. During the Shell Speed Dash, the Z set the world record for the fastest speed ever recorded by a land plane -- an average of miles per hour. Refitted with a bigger engine, the Z began flying at speeds over 280 miles per hour by December. But during one high-speed run at 150 feet, the Z's right wing failed and the racer crashed in a massive fireball -- killing pilot Lowell Bayles. The Museum's Gee Bee is a reproduction of the original but is not exact in every way. In 1978, Bill Turner built the plane to fly -- and fly much safer than the hot-rod original. This plane has slightly longer wings and fuselage and less-powerful engine to make it easier to control. The plane was purchased by the Disney Corporation and appeared in the 1991 movie The Rocketeer. The Gee Bee was on display at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying before it was purchased by The Museum of Flight. Granville Brothers Aircraft was an aircraft manufacturer in operation from 1929 until its bankruptcy in 1934. The firm was located at the Springfield Airport in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Granville Brothers, Zantford, Thomas, Robert, Mark and Edward are best known for the production of the three Gee Bee Super Sportster air racers, the Models Z, R1 and R2, which are synonymous with the golden age of air racing.
Size: 5050px × 3360px
Location: Museum of Flight, 9404 East Marginal Way South, Seattle, Washington 98108
Photo credit: © John Gaffen 2 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: air-racing, aircraft, bee, brothers, gee, granville, plane, racing, replica, reproduction, transport
