Beecraft Wee Bee
| Beecraft Wee Bee | |
|---|---|
| Role | Experimental sports Ultralight aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Beecraft Associates |
| First flight | 1948 |
| Number built | 1 |
|
| |
The Beecraft Wee Bee was an American ultralight monoplane designed and built by Beecraft Associates.[1] It was described as the world's smallest plane.[1]
Development
The Wee Bee was designed by William "Bill" Chana, Kenneth Coward, and Karl Montijo. They described it as big enough to carry a man and small enough to be carried by a man.[1]
It was an all-metal cantilever mid-wing monoplane powered by a Kiekhaefer O-45-35 flat-twin piston engine.[1] It had a conventional tail and fixed tri-cycle landing gear.[1] The unusual feature was that the aircraft lacked any internal room for a pilot who had to fly it lying prone on top of the fuselage.[1][2]
Only a prototype registration NX90840 was built and the type did not enter production. The prototype was destroyed when the San Diego Air and Space Museum burned down in 1978.[2] After the fire, a replica was built and is now on display at the new San Diego Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park.
Specifications
Data from [1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 14 ft 2 in (4.32 m)
- Wingspan: 18 ft 0 in (5.49 m)
- Height: 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m)
- Wing area: 44 sq ft (4.1 m2)
- Empty weight: 210 lb (95 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 410 lb (186 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Kiekhaefer O-45-35 flat-two piston engine, 30 hp (22 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 82 mph (132 km/h; 71 kn)
- Cruise speed: 75 mph (65 kn; 121 km/h)
- Range: 50 mi (43 nmi; 80 km)
- Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
References
- Notes
- Bibliography
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bee Aviation. |
- "Homemade Air Sled Weighs Less Than Pilot" , February 1949, Popular Science rare photos of the WeeBee—i.e. pages 137 to 139