Granville Brothers: Free Article For Aces High BBS Members

[Widewing]

I doubt that many younger readers and posters here know much about the Granville Brothers and their awe inspiring GeeBee racers of the early 1930s. However, the Granvilles influenced many of the aircraft designers that came after them. Like Supermarine's R.J. Mitchell, the Granvilles were innovators whose designs would set world records, win international recognition and ultimately meet with tragedy. The story of the Granvilles and their unique air racers is a one every aviation enthusiast should know. Their concept of fitting the largest, most powerful engine available into the smallest possible airframe lived on in many famous fighters, such as the Polikarpov I-16 through the Grumman F8F Bearcat. The Granvilles pushed the envelop into the realm of the unknown, and were rewarded with both success and terrible loss. You should find their story enlightening.

My articles usually end up in magazines or are published on Scribd. I decided to make an exception for this one.

I wanted to share the story of the Granville Brothers and their wild airplanes with the members of the Aces High BBS. Thus, I uploaded a PDF copy of my article, "Granville Brothers: Shattered Records, Broken Dreams" to the AT&T server and it is available for download to all. I originally wrote this piece with the assistance of Warren Bodie about 9 years ago. Warren loaned me some of his personal photos in addition to those I had already obtained. My recent stumbling upon a 1931 newsreel of the GeeBee Model Z in the National Archives enabled me to pull individual frames, providing images not seen in any previous book or article on the Granvilles. I resurrected the article, added the new images and re-edited it accordingly.

You may download a copy here: http://home.att.net/~historyworld/GeeBeeSCRIBD-Released.pdf


My regards,

Widewing

[Guppy35]

Thanks Widewing.  Might surprise some folks to find Jimmy Doolittle's name pop up next to a Gee Bee 

[Wmaker]

Thank you!

[Widewing]

Thanks Widewing.  Might surprise some folks to find Jimmy Doolittle's name pop up next to a Gee Bee 

You are right...Few know that Doolittle won both the Schneider Trophy and the Thompson Trophy race, the premier air races of the 1920s and 1930s.

Also note that the designer of the GeeBee Model Z also was responsible for the design of Grumman's superlative F8F Bearcat.. His name, Bob Hall.

Another note: I found a typo in the PDF, which I corrected and uploaded again.


My regards,

Widewing

[moot]

Thanks Widewing.

[B4Buster]

I have alot of family that lived/live in Springfield and Agawam. Amazing to see these machines were built right in their back yard (I never knew)

Interesting read.

[detch01]

Just DL'd it - many thx Wide 


Cheers,
asw

[Easyscor]

Grabbed a copy, Thanks Widewing.

[hubsonfire]

Good read, thanks. 

[Shuffler]

Thanks WW

[Baumer]

Thank you Widewing, very enjoyable!

[Masherbrum]

You are right...Few know that Doolittle won both the Schneider Trophy and the Thompson Trophy race, the premier air races of the 1920s and 1930s.

Also note that the designer of the GeeBee Model Z also was responsible for the design of Grumman's superlative F8F Bearcat.. His name, Bob Hall.

Another note: I found a typo in the PDF, which I corrected and uploaded again.

My regards,

Widewing

Indeed.   I read "I Could Never Be So Lucky Again" when I was about 16.   Great book.

[Hajo]

Thanks Widewing.  I seem to recall viewing some film on the Web of Doolittle racing the GeeBee.

I hope I can remember where I viewed it.

[Roscoroo]

great history  as always . thanks

[ttflier]

Great read!!