by beaky » Mon Feb 14, 2005 5:57 am
"Drat, drat, and double-drat!" as Dick Dastardly used to say...
shot down by the rifleman!
Yes, it's the airplane designed by Dr. William Christmas, who it might be assumed was a competent medical doctor, but really shouldn't have dabbled in aircraft design- the Bullet was doomed to failure, thanks to Christmas' confidence that fully flexible (but not warping), unbraced wings, an almost nonexistent rudder, and a tiny, very stiff warping tailplane (no elevator) were the way to go for this "high speed interceptor" design of 1918.
He was definitely a competent con man, because he stirred up enough interest and money in the middle of a war to get a free Liberty 6-cylinder from the Army (promised it wouldn't be flown, only tested) and got thousands of dollars from some brokers.
This prototype was built by the practically-failed Continental Aircraft company, out of "hickory wood and sawmill steel", according to the book this photo was taken from, and was flight-tested right away, despite the fact that Christmas had promised the Army that he'd send it to them for static testing first.
The first pilot he asked to fly it took a look and declined; the second was so sure he could fly it, he invited his mother to the field to watch. He got it off the ground, but as soon as he tried to turn, the wings came right off, and he was killed. Fortunately, the Bullet was destroyed.
Undeterred, the good Doctor immediately started another, with no changes whatsoever! He had the nerve to ask the Army for some propellor drawings, despite having destroyed their new engine (and not paying them a penny for it), and once completed, the second Bullet was displayed at the NY Aero Show in 1919, offered for sale as the "safest, easiest controlled airplane in the world"!!
Christmas had tried unsuccessfully to get use of an Army field for flight-testing this one, so he borrowed a farmer's field in Long Island, and got another pilot to fly it. It flew into a barn after this pilot realized too late that it would not climb... of course, he was killed.
Amazingly, Dr. Christmas later got $100,000 from the US gov't in 1923 for an aileron patent without confirming its legitimacy!!
According to this book, "thus pensioned, he lived to the fine age of ninety-four..."
