The Bugatti Reve Blue...this is a cool plane!

[M.D. Holloway]

The most beautiful plane never flown is just weeks from its maiden flight | The Verge

I saw this last year in Oshkosh. The above article mentions that she will take flight. Stunning aircraft!

Here is a pic from the Oshkosh airshow I was at...

[john70t]

I hope it is a success.
However the mid-engine P-39(same wing profile as well) had a tendency for flat spins, and that has the doctor killer V tail thrown into the mix.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Bet it's a handful to fly but will go like stink. Absolutely gorgeous! Can't wait for the flight test video...

[nzporsche944s2]

There is quite a lot of talk about this over on F Chat, a number of people don't think it will fly well at all;

Bugatti Airplane - Page 2 - FerrariChat.com

Not sure I would want to be in that cockpit either with a driveshaft running down each side of the the pilot!

It is a beautiful creation but it could be a case of form before function...

[Mark Henry]

Looks like a prop strike waiting to happen.

[Sarc]

An interesting tidbit on the linked Ferrarichat thread above; one of the posters (Bob Parks) commenting on the Bugatti started his career as an engineer for Boeing working on the XB-52 65 years ago!
His musings and thoughts are always a pleasure to read.

Here's an example from the other day, commenting on the 60th anniversary of Tex Johnston's roll
in the B707.
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/aviatorchat-com/496144-707-barrel-roll-60-years-ago.html

[HardDrive]

Pointless and ugly.

[jyl]

Very cool. I wonder how much study they did, before building the plane, to assure themselves that it is a sound design. Can an entire plane be simulated on the computer?. Do you have to build scale models and fly them?

[911_Dude]

Beautiful aircraft. I would not want to be the test pilot tho.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by john70t

I hope it is a success.
However the mid-engine P-39(same wing profile as well) had a tendency for flat spins, and that has the doctor killer V tail thrown into the mix.

It isn't a true v-tail as it has a vertical stabilizer as well. The configuration is similar to the empennage of an F4 Phantom, but inverted.

[flipper35]

I wonder what the are doing about aerodynamic divergence while at speed with the forward sweep of the wings, especially with the smaller elevator surfaces. Unless it isn't enough sweep to cause an issue.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

IIRC the Grumman X-29 had a similar configuration - not sure how they dealt with it on that design per se but I'm guessing these guys would employ a similar approach...

[flipper35]

With the X-29 they laid the composite up in such a way as to make the tips twist leading edge down under load. The first article wasn't quite right but the second one worked pretty well. IIRC they even flew at 60+ degrees alpha while maintaining control.

The early FSW German bombers had some issues in the 40s and the Bugatti seems to be a conventional wood and composite construction as well.

I hope it flies well.

[cashflyer]

Aug 20, 2015

The Bugatti 100P replica race plane that has been under construction for the last several years in Oklahoma sustained damage yesterday during its first test flight, nosing over and striking both propellers after a failure of its right brake and a slow-speed departure from the runway into soft mud.

More here:

http://www.flyingmag.com/news/replica-bugatti-100p-damaged-first-flight-mishap

[Tervuren]

Ambitious for sure.

This guy built a replica plane that had been flown, but had a nasty reputation, instead of no reputation at all.


I got to crawl through that door as a youngin', I was in awe sitting inside.

Can't imagine what its like to fly a replica racer, with very little no how of what will happen. Most test pilots are lacking in hair for a reason.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by jyl

Very cool. I wonder how much study they did, before building the plane, to assure themselves that it is a sound design. Can an entire plane be simulated on the computer?. Do you have to build scale models and fly them?

The problem with scale models, is air flow doesn't simulate perfectly in scale. At a given velocity, a model will have the air flow differently than at full size.

The biggest risk of flying a 1930's race plane, is controls at those speeds were not figured out. The Gee Bee Z's horrible crash in the Shell Dash run happened from forces not understood before the crash on the control surfaces.

As speed changes, the handling changes. There can be a cross over speed where separation of air can cause a reversal of control from input at a lower speed.

You can run simulations at multiple velocities, and this, depending on the size of your computing power, will probably be better than a scale model. A scale model can help with major flaws, but there can be unexpected different results when scaling.

There were some real geniuses designing the planes back then. Sometimes its best not to tinker with what they made, unless what they made crashed. In this case, we don't know.

Hopefully they get it fixed, and back out there.

[Hawkeye's-911T]

Straying a bit from "Doc's" original post - I saw Delmar Benjamin's replica version of the Gee Bee Racer fly at the Abbotsford Airshow years ago. When I got up really close to it, I thought it was scary looking aircraft & something I wouldn't really want to try to fly.!



Cheers
JB

[porsche4life]

Damn! They were testing that not far from where I grew up. Perfect airport for stuff like that. Abandoned airbase with a massively long runway!

[cashflyer]

Sad update on the Bugatti 100P: The Bugatti 100P crashed yesterday (Aug 6) near Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base... killing Scotty Wilson (the pilot and owner).

One Dead In Small Plane Crash Near Burns Flat - News9.com

Crews are investigating after a small plane crashed near the town of Burns Flat in Wa****a County, early Saturday morning.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol and Wa****a County Sheriff’s deputies were called out to the scene near the Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base around 8:25 a.m.

According to OHP, the pilot of a small experimental plane, identified as Scotty Wilson, was the only person on board the aircraft at the time of the crash.

A Facebook page for The Bugatti100p Project speaks about small plane building project going on in the Burns Flat area. A person connected to the project, Stan Shumway, has confirmed that Wilson did not survive the crash. News on 6 in Tulsa interviewed Wilson about the project back in August 2015.

Cecelia Schneberger, 89, of Foss, said she heard the crash as she was sitting down for her morning coffee. Her home sits about 100 yards from the crash.

"I heard a big boom and then looked out the window and saw smoke and fire," she said.

She said this was the first crash she can remember at this airfield since she moved in in 1976.

The plane was a homemade replica of a small 1930s French aircraft originally designed by Italian-born Parisian automaker Ettore Bugatti. It had been built by Wilson and others based mostly on photos of the original aircraft, which never actually flew.

According to a spokesperson from the Experimental Aircraft Association Museum in Wisconsin, the original plane was dismantled to be hidden from the Nazi army before World War II. It was later recovered and shipped to the museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

When told of the crash, the EAA spokesperson said the museum had also tried to create a replica which was described as "kind of iffy."

This would've been the third flight for the plane. According to the group's Facebook page, they spent several years building the plane and the anniversary of the first flight would have been in two weeks.

This was also not the first time the plane ran into trouble. Wilson told reporters in 2015 there was a problem during the first flight with the plane's brakes causing it to end up nose first in the ground upon landing.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the incident.




Edit: Really? REALLY, PELICAN??? Your system edits out the name of a county???

[jyl]

How is the software supposed to know that is the name of a county?