The Nicholas-Beazley Pobjoy Special aka the Nicholas-Beazley Phantom I, aka the Wittman Phantom, aka the Flagg Phantom, aka the Reaver Special was a world record holding air racer of the 1930s

Development

The Nicholas-Beazley Airplane Company had imported a

Pobjoy Airmotors Pobjoy Airmotors and Aircraft was a British manufacturer of small aircraft engines. The company was purchased by Short Brothers shortly before the start of World War II, production continuing until the end of the war. History Douglas Rudolf P ...

engine with a gear reduction unit for use in its new design the

Nicholas-Beazley NB-3 The Nicholas-Beazley NB-3, or Barling NB-3, is a two-seat, training aircraft of the 1920s. Design The Barling NB-3 was designed by Walter Barling in 1927. The aircraft was advertised as being able to right itself from any position with hands of ...

. Designer Robert T. Jones computed the weight and balance for the setup and proposed a new design as an air-racer. Claude Flagg and H. F. Landis built the aircraft in their spare time and patented the wing design.

Design

The fuselage is welded steel with fabric covering. The wings used an early application of lightweight aluminum construction with U shaped

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

spars with wire bracing and fabric covering. The aircraft used wheels with small tires and without brakes. The cockpit was open and the engine was fully cowled. In 1932 the

Pobjoy P The Pobjoy P was a British seven-cylinder, air-cooled, aircraft engine designed by Douglas Rudolf Pobjoy and built by Pobjoy Airmotors. It became the progenitor of the Pobjoy R/ Niagara/Cataract family of small radial engines. A notable feature ...

engine was replaced with a

Pobjoy R The Pobjoy R is a British seven-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine designed and built by Pobjoy Airmotors. Introduced in 1926, it was a popular engine for ultralight and small aircraft in the 1930s. A notable feature of the Pobjoy R was ...

of 75 hp. The cockpit was also enclosed. In 1933 Wittman lengthened the fuselage by 21 inches, removed the engine cowling and modified the rudder. In 1946 The engine was replaced with a

Continental C-85 The Continental O-190 (Company designations C75 and C85) is a series of engines made by Continental Motors beginning in the 1940s. Of flat-four configuration, the engines produced 75 hp (56 kW) or 85 hp (63 kW) respectively. ...

Operational history

In 1932 Ownership passed to Air Racer

Steve Wittman Sylvester Joseph "Steve" Wittman (April 5, 1904 – April 27, 1995) was an American air-racer and aircraft engineer. An illness in Wittman's infancy claimed most of his vision in one eye, which convinced him from an early age that his dre ...

. An Air Commerce inspector fronted the money, and had Wittman race the aircraft to avoid a conflict of interest. The Pobjoy Special is the only racer Wittman raced that he did not build or design himself. In 1937 the Pobjoy Special is flipped on its back. It was rebuilt sold, and stored until the end of World War II. John Reaver entered the aircraft as the Reaver Special in the new Goodyear Formula One races. *1930 National Air Races - Registered as R1W, pilot Danny Fowlie reached 115 mph placing third in class with a mismatched prop. *1933 Chicago International Air Races - Pilot Steve Wittman wins all races in the 200ci class with a maximum speed of 120 mph. *1934 New Orleans - Wittman wins the 100 km world speed record of 137.513 mph for aircraft less than 440 pounds. *1934 Cleveland Air Races - Wittman wins all races in the 200ci class with a speed of 129.440 mph. *1935 Cleveland Air Races - New owner Percy V. Chaffee wins all races in 200ci class. In 1936 the 200ci class is eliminated, making the Pobjoy Special obsolete for racing. *1937 St.Louis - Last race of the Pobjoy Special.

Variants

* In 1998 former owner, Dick Sampson, commissioned an airworthy replica of the Pobjoy Special to be built by Bill Turner of Repeat Aviation. It is configured with the Wittman modifications, a cowled Pobjoy engine, and wooden wings. The aircraft is on display at the

EAA Airventure Museum The EAA Aviation Museum, formerly the EAA AirVenture Museum (or Air Adventure Museum), is a museum dedicated to the preservation and display of historic and experimental aircraft as well as antiques, classics, and warbirds. The museum is lo ...

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...

.Ogden, 2007, p. 560

Specifications (Pobjoy Special)

Bibliography

* Ogden, Bob. Aviation Museums and Collections of North America. 2007. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. .

References

{{reflist 1930s United States aircraft Racing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1930