Robert L. Hall (1906–1991) was an American Air racing pilot and aircraft designer.

Career

Robert L. Hall was born in Taunton, Massachusetts in 1905. After graduating in 1927 from the University of Michigan, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he joined the

Granville Brothers Aircraft 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 ...

, where he was the chief engineer. He designed the

Gee Bee Model Z The Granville Gee Bee Model Z was an American racing aircraft of the 1930s, the first of the Super Sportster aircraft built by Granville Brothers Aircraft of Springfield, Massachusetts, with the sole intent of winning the Thompson Trophy, whic ...

racer, the "City of Springfield," which swept the competition in every contest in the National Air Races of 1931. On September 5, Hall flew the Gee Bee Z to victory in the General Tire and Rubber Trophy race. Lowell Bayles flew the aircraft the next day to victory in the free-for-all event.

The Springfield Aircraft Co.

Hall left the Granville Brothers in 1927 to form The Springfield Aircraft Co and moved operations to the Bowles Agawam Airport. There he designed the ''

Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into tw ...

'' racer, which was scheduled to race at the 1932 National Air Races by owner Frank Lynch but did not start the race due to engine problems.

The Grumman Years

Robert Hall later joined Grumman, where he helped design and test a series of planes that proved a major force during World War II. Serving as Chief Engineer and lead flight test pilot, he helped design and made the first flights of the

F4F Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atla ...

, the

G-21 Goose The Grumman G-21 Goose is an amphibious flying boat designed by Grumman to serve as an eight-seat "commuter" aircraft for businessmen in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman's first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engined aircraft, and i ...

in 1937, the XP-50 in 1941, the

F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy's dominant fighter in the second ha ...

in 1942, the

F7F Tigercat The Grumman F7F Tigercat is a heavy fighter aircraft that served with the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) from late in World War II until 1954. It was the first twin-engine fighter to be deployed by the USN. While ...

in 1943 and the

F8F Bearcat The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the ...

in 1944. On May 14, 1941 while flying the XP-50, it experienced an inflight turbocharger explosion while over Long Island Sound. Hall was forced to parachute to safety. As Grumman's chief engineer and vice president, he was instrumental in the design of the

F9F Panther The Grumman F9F Panther is one of the United States Navy's first successful aircraft carrier, carrier-based jet fighters, as well as Grumman’s first jet fighter. A single-engined, straight-winged day fighter, it was armed with four Hispano-Su ...

F9F Cougar The Grumman F9F/F-9 Cougar is a carrier-based fighter aircraft for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. Based on Grumman's earlier F9F Panther, the Cougar replaced the Panther's straight wing with a more modern swept wing. Thr ...

, F10F Jaguar and

F11F Tiger The Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger is a supersonic, single-seat carrier-based United States Navy fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s. Originally designated the F11F Tiger in April 1955 under the pre-1962 Navy designation system, i ...

jet fighters and the Gulfstream I executive aircraft. He retired from Grumman in 1970.

Legacy

The Hall Bulldog Project is a project attempting to recreate the V-2 Bulldog. His son Eric Hall is co-founder of Halls Spars, which manufacturers sailboat rigging.Hall History
Retrieved 20 July 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Robert Air racing 1905 births 1991 deaths University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni People from Taunton, Massachusetts Aircraft designers