The Gee Bee Model Y Senior Sportster was a sport aircraft built in the United States in the early 1930s by the

Granville Brothers Granville Brothers Aircraft was an aircraft manufacturer from 1929 until its bankruptcy in 1934 that was located at the Springfield Airport in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Granville Brothers—Zantford, Thomas, Robert, Mark and Edward—are ...

. Essentially an enlarged two-seat version of the single-seat Sportster, it was a low-wing strut-and-wire-braced monoplane of conventional design with open cockpits and fixed tailskid undercarriage. The first of the two examples constructed (registration ''X 11049'') remained with the Granville Brothers company and competed in many races, piloted by Maude Tait and Russell Boardman, among others. Later it also served as a support aircraft for the R-1 and R-2 racers. The second Model Y (registration ''NR718Y'') was built to order for the Cord Auto Company to be used as an engine testbed for the Lycoming R-680 engine they produced. This aircraft was later refitted with a

Wright Whirlwind The Wright Whirlwind was a family of air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical (originally an independent company, later a division of Curtiss-Wright). The family began with nine-cylinder engines, and later expanded to incl ...

of nearly double the power of its original powerplant. In this form, it was flown by Florence Klingensmith at the 1933 Chicago International Races, where she won second place in the Women's Free-For-All, then perished in the aircraft after fabric became detached from the upper right wing while contesting the Phillips Trophy.

Specifications

References

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aerofiles.com

{{Granville Brothers aircraft 1930s United States sport aircraft Granville Brothers aircraft Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1931