How many of you have heard of this ? I saw a model back in 2002 when I was in Italy at a museum Its amazingly advanced for 1939, just goes to show Ettore was the DaVinci of the 20th C http://www.tdmsoftware.com/majewski/rcstuff/bugattiinfo.html http://www.bugattiaircraft.com/kalempa.htm Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
notice the wings are forward swept wings instead of the normal backward swept wings we found in normal aircraft forward swept wing gives better airflow and less drag to the aircraft however the construction of fwd swept wings is very hard to find the correct configuration
Those contra-props are almost always trouble as well. The engine was behind the cockpit with a driveshaft up to the front. I really wonder about the weight and balance of such a scheme. However, I saw somebody make an RC model of this, so I guess it might have theoretically been able to fly. As far as I know, it was never fully assembled in Bugatti hands, but was found at the Molsheim works partially assembled in the 50s and ended up in a flight museum here in the US? Maybe somebody knows the whole story here.
This aircraft was a flop and never flew. De Monge designed it to attack the air speed record, at the time in German hands. There were 2 engines behing the pilot, with a propshaft each side of the seat. An engineering nightmare and a project far too ambitious for Bugatti who had no prior involvement in aircraft, lending just the 2 engines.
That is pretty much the story I read as well. Note that Bugatti himself, while a great artist and arguably a mechanical genius in his own quirky way, was not a trained engineer of any kind - let alone a competent aerodynamic designer. But it is a pretty thing, is it not? BTW - in my experience you can get almost any shape to fly as an RC model so long as you provide enough power.
Actually the bugatti p-100 air racer was designed by a very accomplished aerodynamicist from the period, Louis De Monge. The plane was not a flop by any measure, however, due to the impending invasion of the German Army, Ettore Bugatti hid the plane away prior to its completion. Some history on the aircraft can be found here: http://bugattipage.com/jacob/other/Aeroplane.html I have also attached an image of the 3d CG model of the aircraft that I am currently working on. Enjoy! Image Unavailable, Please Login
doing some researching, and came across several images of 100p and 110p, some are of the original plane project, some artwork, and some interesting people are building full size flying versions now, which would be cool to see actually fly Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
the sole 100p now resides at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh WI. I must have spent 20 minutes just walking around it taking in the details. Beautiful! http://www.airventuremuseum.org/collection/aircraft/Bugatti%20Model%20100%20Racer.asp "Construction of the aircraft was undertaken on the second floor of a furniture factory in Paris. The French government was aware of the advanced design and Bugatti received a contract for a light pursuit plane designated as the Model 110P based on the Model 100P racer. In 1938-1939, while the Model 100 was under construction, the threat of war increased. The aircraft had to be completed by September of 1939 to enter the race. The deadline was not met and the beautiful blue bird never took to the air. When the Germans neared the French capital in June of 1940, it was decided to move the aircraft from its Paris location. As the plane was not complete, it was lowered from the second story factory and taken into the French countryside. There, hidden in a barn, the never-flown plane resided for almost 30 years. Ettore Bugatti died at age 66 on 21 August 1947. After his death, the aircraft was acquired by a Mr. Pazzoli who sold it to Mr. Salis who in turn sold it to the American car aficionado Ray Jones in 1970. Jones sole purpose was to acquire the two Bugatti engines still in the aircraft. He brought the plane to the US, removed the powerplants and sold the airframe to Dr. Peter Williamson. Williamson moved the aircraft to Connecticut in February 1971 to begin a lengthy restoration. Les and Don Lefferts worked on the project from 1975 to 1979. Les Lefferts documented this work in the July 1991 issue of SKYWAYS magazine. The restoration ceased in 1979 and the aircraft was donated to the Air Force Museum Foundation with hopes of completing the work and placing the aircraft on permanent loan to another museum. As time slipped away, the aircraft remained in storage for at least another 15 years before being donated to the EAA AirVenture Museum." Image Unavailable, Please Login
It looks like there are two shafts, one from each engine, running along the left and right sides of the cockpit and connecting to the gearbox for the counter-rotating props.
Gear box? Ugh. Cool looking plane but seems to have a lot of failure points. Also, where's the tail wheel? Looks like they're using a little dolly to support the tail.
no wheel i can see ....there's a drive shaft goes along each side of the pilot to drive the front props complex design to say the least, not fool proof for sure, but tres cool a modern version, with dual props behind the Y tail would work for me, that'd be interesting, and better packaging
Those were my thoughts, also. Whizzbang Buck Rogers looks but poor aerodynamic configuration. Tail looks too small, tail arm too short, and it would take a lot of HP to get it moving fast enough to fly well. It appears that the rear engine drives aft gear box while the forward engine drives the forward box. Both shafts would require some very firm mid-shaft stabilizer bearings too.
If you think the Bugatti design is bizarre, consider the Piaggio P.7: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaggio_P.7