Cantilever Aero Bullet

The Cantilever Aero Bullet (sometimes Christmas Strutless Biplane or Christmas Bullet) was a single-seat cantilever wing biplane. It is considered by many to be the worst aircraft ever constructed.cite book |title=The World's Worst Aircraft |author=James Gilbert |isbn=0-340-21824-X]

Development

Christmas had little expertise in aircraft manufacturing or design, but convinced two brothers, Henry and Alfred McCorey, to back him. They then paid a visit to the Continental Aircraft Company, of Long Island, where Christmas convinced management that his planned airplane would be the key element in an audacious plot to kidnap Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

It was an all wood construction and was one of the first aircraft with a veneer-clad fuselage, which had reduced skin drag compared to traditional fabric covering. [http://http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/christmas_bullet.php "Christmas Bullet - experimental", Virtual Aircraft Museum] ] It was powered by a Liberty 6 engine. It lacked any kind of struts or braces for the wings. On its maiden flight in January 1919, the wings of the Bullet peeled from the fuselage and the airplane crashed, killing the pilot. The second Bullet was powered by a All-Scott L-6 engine. It was also destroyed in its first flight. The project was abandoned before its USAAS evaluation.

pecifications

aerospecs
ref=Angelucci, 1987. p 94.
met or eng?=eng

crew=1
capacity=
length m=6.40
length ft=21
length in=0
span m=8.53
span ft=28
span in=0
height m=
height ft=
height in=
wing area sqm=15.79
wing area sqft=170
empty weight kg=826
empty weight lb=1,820
gross weight kg=953
gross weight lb=2,100

eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Liberty 6
eng1 kw=
eng1 hp=185
eng2 number=
eng2 type=
eng2 kw=
eng2 hp=

max speed kmh=282
max speed mph=175
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
stall speed kmh=
stall speed mph=
range km=885
range miles=550
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=4,481
ceiling ft=14,700
g limits=
roll rate=
climb rate ms=
climb rate ftmin=

armament1=
armament2=
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6= aircontent
see also=
related=
similar aircraft=
lists=

References

Bibliography

*

External links

* [http://aerofiles.com/_ca.html Aerofiles A Century of American Aviation]
* [http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0038.shtml Aerospecweb]