VG-166A Gee Bee Corsair

VG-166A Gee Bee Corsair

Testors, 1/48

In February 1938, the United States Navy published a requirement for a new, high-performance, carrier-based fighter. They were looking for an aircraft with significant abilities beyond that of the Grumman F4F Wildcat and Brewster Buffalo, which were being tested for production. The stage was set for a young designer named Rex Beisel to move in. Rex had spent the last 17 years proving his ideas and building award-winning aircraft. In 1923 he became the chief engineer of Curtis Aeroplane and Motor Company at the age of 29. His designs won the 1925 Pulitzer Race, taking first and second places. In 1929 he designed one of the first aircraft specifically built for dive-bombing, the F8C-2 Helldiver. He also designed the SBU-1 scout / dive-bomber which was the first plane of its' type to exceed 200 mph. The breakthrough was credited to the installation of adjustable engine cowl flaps. In 1934, he received the Manley Memorial Medal and the Wright Brothers Medal for his work on the technical paper "Cowling and Cooling the Radial Air-Cooled Aircraft Engines." Rex was promoted the following June to Chief Engineer of Chance Vought and helped create the first monoplane scout / bomber, the SB2U Vindicator.

During those same years the Granville Brothers were also making aviation history. They designed and built some of the most famous racing aircraft of the 1930's. The highlight of their career came when James Doolittle won the 1932 Thompson Trophy Race flying a Gee Bee R-1 and then won the Shell Speed Dash at 296.287 mph. It was a new world record for landplane speed. This was done using a nine-cylinder, Pratt and Whitney T3D1 R-1340, supercharged radial engine producing 730 hp at 2300 rpm's. They matched the engine to a very light aircraft with a low drag design, the Gee Bee R-1. It had a wingspan of 25 ft. and was 17 ft. 8 inches long, the gross wing area 101.9 sq. ft. and gross weight 3,075 lbs. With the use of new and bold concepts to get as much speed as possible, the Granville brothers created the fastest aircraft in America. The Gee Bee team was forced to liquidate in the fall of 1933 as their race team experienced five aircraft crashes and two pilots killed, the later being Allen Granville.

It would be difficult to assume that the record-breaking news of the Gee Bee team went unnoticed by Rex who was a top engineer at Curtis in 1934. "What if" Mr. Beisel sent a telegram to the remaining Granville brothers inviting them to develop their skills as employees of Curtis Aeroplane. If so, then it would be possible that one of the two aircraft that Vought submitted to the navy would've looked like this model. The benefits of this aircraft would be obvious. Weighing in at 4,020 lbs it would be 1,740 lbs lighter than the F4F Wildcat but with the same engine and horsepower. The length would be 18' 6'' instead of 28' 9'' and wingspan 30 instead of 38 feet. Its' very compact size would allow more of them to be carried within a ship and ease handling on the deck.

The VG-166A would carry 6 - .30 caliber guns instead of the .50's, helping to decrease the overall weight. Its' projected top speed of 374 mph would be impressive but its' design would suffer in pilot visibility and low speed handling. The navy would still opt for the second offering from Vought, the V-166B with its' 18 cylinder engine, .50 caliber guns and top speed over 400 mph, later to be known as the F4U-1 Corsair.

Page created August 10, 2004