Manufacturer: Gee Bee (Granville Bros.)

Model: N

Name: Super Sportster

Type: Racer

Date:

Status: Experimental

Country: United States of America

Service: U.S. Navy

Designation: XR2G-1

The U.S. Navy purchased examples of several Gee Bee Sportster and Super Sportster racers, which were designated Granville Bros. XRG-1, XR2G-1, XR3G-1 and XR3G-2. All of these were collectively and unofficially known as the "Navy Sportsters".

Here is the Gee Bee XR2G-1 Super Sportster shot just before it flew the 1935 Curtiss Trophy (so named in honor of the late Glenn Curtiss). The XR2G-1 was flown by Lieutenant Miles Wiedemann and beat its Wedell-Williams XR2W-1 competitor by a very tight margin.

I always wondered what the improbable Gee Bee racers would have looked like in military colors... So I tried to imagine the pre-War U.S. Navy still involved in racing aircraft beyond the Schneider Cup years.

Below right is the marvelous photo by Brett B. Despain which I found on Airliners.net and used as a basis. I've also added the photo of the old blimp hangar I used for the background as an inset.

And for those who wonder: Gee Bee = Granville Bros (not to be mistaken for the Bee Gees = Brothers Gibb). Don't get the heebeegeebees over it!!!

• Love the Navy GeeBee (jorel62)
• Gee Bee's were always quirky planes, they always looked like something out of a cartoon because of its proportions. I never thought the only word I could come to describe a plane is "cute".  (ONI-Defense)
• Here is how it appeared in USAAC colors! [link] (MercenaryGraphics)

Excellent! I love to see the work of other "whiffers", especially when it's so well done as this!