The Gee Bee R3-M……an imagined progression beyond the Gee Bee R1/R2 racing airplane variants

DLE35RA two stroke petrol (gas), 4.1hp @ 8500rpm

Fixed custom made undercarriage tail dragger with front oleo struts.

Custom made instrument panel (based on original Gee Bee R2 photographs) with brushed aluminium sheet and instruments from laminated photos from 1930’s era. Pilot customised with hand made (by my wife) leather flying helmet, goggles, buckles and painted by myself.

Cowl custom hand made fibreglass (lost mould method) with black gloss automotive paint finish.
Covering in black, silver and yellow from HobbyKing.
Graphics custom designed and cricut from vinyl sheet.

Everything personally hand made except engine, propeller, electronics, oleo strut main shafts, wheels.
Hardware essentially Dubro fittings with some limited HobbyKing sourced e.g. control horns on ailerons, elevator and flaps.

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Weight 21.6 lbs
Servos: TowerPro MG996R
Split flaps
Build Time 28 months
The plans were modified to incorporate a more scale front end to house the Pratt & Whitney Hornet 1050hp radial and a modified canopy and cockpit area more in tune with the increased speed of the aircraft.

Mark Ward’s model of the Gee Bee R3-M came about by envisaging where the Gee Bee Aircraft company racing plane development may have progressed to if the company did not go bankrupt when it did. The R3-M could have been developed with the larger and more powerful Pratt and Whitney Hornet engine (later installed in the R6) keeping the front-end style of the R1 and R2 airplanes. The elongated fuselage provides better stability and overall performance in line with the fantasy R3 model that has been around for some time. This modified version R3-M is a pure racing airplane with a large powerful engine, sleek airframe, and consequently fast performance.
Please enjoy the 25% scale model which is based on existing full scale racing airplanes and some lateral imagination!