The Budd BB-1 Pioneer was an experimental

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

of the 1930s utilizing the

Savoia-Marchetti S.56 The Savoia-Marchetti S.56 was an Italian single-engine biplane flying boat trainer and tourer, built by Savoia-Marchetti. Of unequal span, the upper longer than the lower, Donald 1997, p.820. of wooden construction. Instructor and student sat s ...

design. Its framework was constructed entirely of

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

, using a newly patented method of welding that alloy.

Development

By 1930 the

Budd Company The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense products ...

was a national leader in construction of railway vehicles containing considerable amounts of stainless steel. Anxious to expand this expertise into other areas, company founder

Edward G. Budd Edward Gowen Budd (December 28, 1870 – November 30, 1946) was an American inventor and businessman. Early life Edward Gowen Budd was born in Smyrna, Delaware, on December 28, 1870. He studied engineering in Philadelphia in 1888. He took corres ...

hired

Enea Bossi Enea Bossi Sr. (March 29, 1888January 9, 1963) was an Italian-American aerospace engineer and aviation pioneer. He is best known for designing the Budd BB-1 ''Pioneer'', the first stainless steel aircraft; and the ''Pedaliante'' airplane, dispu ...

to design and construct a flying boat of shot-welded stainless steel sheet and strip. They contracted with the Italian aircraft company

Savoia-Marchetti SIAI-Marchetti was an Italian aircraft manufacturer primarily active during the interwar period. History The original company was founded during 1915 as SIAI (''Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia'' - Seaplane Company of Upper Italy). As suggested ...

for the use of the S.56 design. The S.56 was a single-engine three-seat flying boat.Pioneer page
/ref> The Italian company granted licenses for construction of three units in the US, one to Budd and the others to other companies. The resulting BB-1 was a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

flying boat, with the lower wing attached near the top of the

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

and the upper wing held high above, with a single

Kinner C-5 The Kinner C-5 was an American five cylinder radial engine for small general and sport aircraft of the 1930s. Design and development The C-5 was a development of the earlier R-5 with greater power and dimensions. The main change was the increas ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

mounted on the aircraft centerline between the wings. Wheels mounted on the sides of the hull were retracted upwards during

water landing In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the water ...

s. The single tailwheel was not retractable. The pilot and two passengers rode in an open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

near the bow. The

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

BB-1 first flew from the Budd Factory airfield, a field northwest of Philadelphia (Latitude 40.11/West Longitude 75.04). The field is still visible, although not used as a landing strip. Although the Pioneer was the first American airplane to be made of stainless steel, it did not go into production. Another stainless steel amphibian, the

Fleetwings Sea Bird The Fleetwings Sea Bird (or Seabird) was an American-built amphibious aircraft of the 1930s. Design and production The Sea Bird was an amphibious utility aircraft designed in 1934–1935 by James C. Reddig for Fleetwings, Inc., of Bristol, Penns ...

was the first to go into production, with one prototype and five production units manufactured.

Operational history

The BB-1 Pioneer first flew in 1931. Flight tests showed it to be typical in performance and challenging to handle on the water.Savoia-Marchetti S.56
/ref> The aircraft logged about 1,000 flying hours on tours of the US and Italy. In 1935 its fabric and lower wing were removed, and it was placed on permanent display outside the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Specifications

References

{{reflist
A "Shot Welded" Aircraft
BB-1 1930s United States experimental aircraft Flying boats Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Franklin Institute Aircraft first flown in 1931