Stumbled upon something extraordinary today

OkieFlyer

OkieFlyer

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Andrew L.
My father-in-law and I went kicking around Harvey Young Airport in Tulsa today. I was there to check out the airport tie-downs and possible hangar space for future trips to town to visit the in-laws. As I walked down the row of hangars, there was one hangar door open, so I thought I'd pop in and chat with whoever was in there. Here's what I found:

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This is a hand built replica of the Bugatti 100P. Designed by Bugatti in Paris in the 30's as a race plane, and potential light fighter, it hoped to exceed 500 knots which would be the fastest airplane on the planet at the time. However, the Nazis rolled into town before it could be flown, and it stayed at Bugatti's residence for many years. The original was brought to the states back in the 60s and it now resides in Oshkosh, but is not airworthy. It has twin engines behind the pilot, with drive shafts that run on either side of the pilot up to a gear box that drives counter-rotating props. The replica uses two 4 cyl 1300cc Suzuki Hayabusa engines of 200 hp, for a total of 400 hp. The airframe is all wood construction, with forward swept wings, Y shaped empennage, and retractable gear. The leader of the project was in the hangar putting some finishing touches on the plane, and it appears to be nearly complete. When finished, the 100P design will be flown for the first time in history. It's remarkable what these folks have accomplished so far, and it will be awesome to see this thing fly. I'm glad I went kicking around ol' Harvey Young today.

Here's their website: http://bugatti100p.com/

Check it out!
 
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Been following their progress on FB for over a year now. Can't wait to see it fly.
 
The surprising thing about it is that Harvey Young is one of those sad, nearly dead airports that used to be bustling and is now basically a craphole. And in this poor old dying airport, amongst rows of rusted and empty hangars, and dilapidated old airframes, is this little gem of an aircraft that was designed 80 years ago, and only now about to get the opportunity to show it's stuff to the world. Knowing the history of the once great airport, it's like this aircraft should belong there, but it's 40- 50 years too late. I can't really describe it, but I got a really good feeling from having the opportunity to see the craft for myself before it takes to the sky. Seems like something really special coming back to life after nearly a century of obscurity. Sorry I'm all sappy about it.
 
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Can't wait to see it fly,looks like one fine machine.
 
N801BH said:
Agreed 100 %............

Altho......

It ain't gonna go 500kts on 400 HP..:no::no::nonod::nonod:........:redface:
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Oh, heck no. They don't intend for the replica to reach those speeds. I failed to mention that before. The fellow said that the original had Bugatti 8 cyl engines that were 400+ hp each. Pardon the misleading information, or lack thereof.
 
OkieFlyer said:
Oh, heck no. They don't intend for the replica to reach those speeds. I failed to mention that before. The fellow said that the original had Bugatti 8 cyl engines that were 400+ hp each. Pardon the misleading information, or lack thereof.
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No prob.......

I agree with the guy in the video though..... It will be VERY "touchy" to fly with those forward swept wings.......

Hope the first flight is a safe one...:yesnod:
 
IIRC, the original aircraft currently sitting in the EAA museum in Oshkosh has no engines in it. The original magnesium engines were removed sometime in the 1950s and sold to someone who supposedly was going to use them in Bugatti cars in lieu of cast iron crankcase engines of otherwise identical construction, and these two unique engines vanished from the face of the earth never to be seen again and are presumed lost now.

When the replica flies, it's going to take a very skilled test pilot to fly it. Computer models have shown that it will fly pretty much like it was originally predicted, but will be quite a stability sensitive airframe to control in the air and probably a real beyotch to land smoothly.
 
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Neal Howard said:
IIRC, the original aircraft currently sitting in the EAA museum in Oshkosh has no engines in it. The original magnesium crankcased engines were removed sometime in the 1950s and sold to someone who supposedly was going to use them in Bugatti cars in lieu of cast iron crankcase engines of otherwise identical construction, and these two unique engines vanished from the face of the earth never to be seen again and are presumed lost now.
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If the replica is built to scale and the original design was for 800HP, and now has 400 HP.... My gut feeling is it might not survive it's first flight...
 
N801BH said:
If the replica is built to scale and the original design was for 800HP, and now has 400 HP.... My gut feeling is it might not survive it's first flight...
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Hopefully they used a bit more forgiving airfoil on the replica's wings which would allow it to be more safe with only half the horsepower.
 
N801BH said:
If the replica is built to scale and the original design was for 800HP, and now has 400 HP.... My gut feeling is it might not survive it's first flight...
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What I was thinking but did t want to say!
 
N801BH said:
If the replica is built to scale and the original design was for 800HP, and now has 400 HP.... My gut feeling is it might not survive it's first flight...
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I guess we'll see. I have a feeling that this team is smart enough to put together something that will have a fighting chance.
 
OkieFlyer said:
It has twin engines behind the pilot, with drive shafts that run on either side of the pilot up to a gear box that drives counter-rotating props.
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Sorry, not to nit-pick, but since they are on the same rotational axis, they are called contra-rotating propellers. When they're on a different rotational axis (like a twin) and rotate in opposite directions, then they're counter-rotating.
 
Ya just had to do it. I realized my error after I wrote it, but I was, and am still, too lazy to go back and fix it.
 
Here ya go.



Had a problem with the brakes on landing and damaged the props, but it flew fine. I think they have flown it since then, and are planning a gear up flight soon. Freaking awesome!
 
You know, when I went out to check on Harvey Young for you a year back, I walked past this exact aircraft with the hangar open and a couple of guys working on it. It didn't have the engine/prop in it and was much less assembled so I didn't stop to talk. Glad you were able to catch a glimpse of it! I hope they choose to trailer it somewhere else with a longer runway for the flight tests! I'd want a nice long/smooth runway to work with, like maybe KPNC.
 
SoonerAviator said:
You know, when I went out to check on Harvey Young for you a year back, I walked past this exact aircraft with the hangar open and a couple of guys working on it. It didn't have the engine/prop in it and was much less assembled so I didn't stop to talk. Glad you were able to catch a glimpse of it! I hope they choose to trailer it somewhere else with a longer runway for the flight tests! I'd want a nice long/smooth runway to work with, like maybe KPNC.
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They have it out at Clinton-Sherman in Burns Flat, OK now. At 13,5000 ft, if it was good enough for the C5s, it ought to work for the Bugatti.
 
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