This is my 33% scale Gee Bee Model Z Super Sportster. This is a model of the first pylon racing airplane the Granville Brothers of Springfield Massachusetts built in 1931. The real plane was Designed by Bob Hall & Zanford "Granny" Granville and was built in a little over 8 weeks to enter the 1931 national air races (Thompson Trophy races) in Cleveland. During it's short lifetime it was entered in only five races but it won them all piloted by Lowell Bayles. It set the world speed record in 1931 with a speed of 267 miles per hour. The real airplane met it's demise while attempting to set a new world speed record and no more Model Z airplanes were built.
This model was scratch built from Vern Clements plans beginning in June '97. It was built to compete in the Unlimited Scale Racing Association series of air races in the new Thompson Trophy class. It took me 14 months to complete mostly because it was my first scratch project and a good bit of time was spent trying to figure out what to do next. It has a 7 foot 10 inch wing span and a 16 inch diameter cowl but is only about 62 inches long. The airplane weighs about 30 pounds. It is powered by a 100cc (6.0 cu in) Aerrow engine that has been modified by Ken Laski. It is covered in Stits cloth covering and painted with Poly Tone paints by F&M enterprises. The graphics were purchased from Model Graphics. I sure learned a lot while building it and received a lot of advise and help from my friends at the club especially my racing partner Bob Lang (Bad News Racing). I am more than willing to share what little I have learned while doing this so please don't hesitate to drop me some email.
Thanks for your interest in my Gee Bee Model Z Project.