Real or Fake

Thank you very much. Although I knew from the film that it was a ""GB" I did not consider it to be the real name and so did not search for it . I will make fewer assumptions after your example, thanks. GA too.

Take a ride....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MtdOHG29Ts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrtmJVi11uo

I didn't know the answer either. It was an interesting enough question that I wanted to know.

I've learned a lot that way since joining.

The Gee Bee racer was absolutely real, and built in Springfield MA.

It was unstable and killed a few pilots, but Jimmy Doolittle tamed the 'Lil Beastie.

About 20 years ago I saw a a full-scale replica fly at the Great New England Airshow held at Westover AFB near Springfield. Amazing to watch that very nimble aircraft actually fly.

The Crawford Auto Aviation Museum, a part of Cleveland's Western Reserve Historical Society, has several race aircraft on display, including a 1932 Gee Bee R-1 replica of the plane flown to victory by Jimmy Doolittle at the 1932 National Air Races. Complementing this plane are other aircraft of local and historic significance, including a 1910 Curtiss Model E "Bumble Bee," a 1929 Great Lakes 2T-1A Sport Trainer, a 1930 Howard DGA-3 "Pete," a 1932 Wedell-Williams Model 44, a 1937 Chester Special NX 93-Y "The Goon," and a 1944 North American P-51K-10NT Mustang "Second Fiddle," all well worth a visit to the following link, https://www.wrhs.org/research/crawford/aircraft/, or better yet, a visit to the museum itself, well worth the trip not only for the aircraft, but also for the auto collection and other attractions including a fully restored merry-go-round and a Goodyear blimp gondola. The museum is located at 10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, phone: (216) 721-5722

My Dad was an aviation nut, and when he was young he used to go to the Cleveland Air Races every chance he got. He used to tell me about all the different planes he saw, and had a chance to ride in (and fly himself.) He never rode in a Gee Bee, but he saw them flying many times. I seem to recall him calling it a 'flying Coke bottle'.