The Blue Dream will finally fly! Beautiful Bugatti plane designed 75 years ago is just weeks away from its maiden flight
- Replica Bugatti 100P has completed engine tests and will fly in weeks
- Plane has been created by Scottish and US engineers based on the original 1937 prototype by the Italian car designer, which was never completed
- Bugatti hid his plane from the Nazis to stop them getting the technology
- 100P would have been one of the most advanced World War II aircraft had it have ever flown, and may have been faster than a Messerschmitt
An engineering labour of love to bring Bugatti’s ‘Veyron of the skies’ to life is reaching the end of its journey.
The
beautiful replica 100P aircraft, dubbed Reve Bleu or the 'Blue Dream',
is expected to make its maiden flight ‘a few weeks from now’.
The
plane is based on a design which had to be concealed from the Nazis
during World War II and that would have made it the most advanced
aircraft of the conflict.
The beautiful replica 100P aircraft,
dubbed The Blue Dream, is expected to make its maiden flight ‘a few
weeks from now. It is pictured here at an engine test
Italian
car designer Ettore Bugatti believed the plane would reach 500mph
(805km/h), beating the German Messerschmitt top speed of 469mph
(755km/h) in 1939.
The
landmark aircraft is being re-created by a Scottish engineer working
with a team in Oklahoma after a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.
The
team has crafted the replica aircraft using the same materials and
processes that would have been used in the late 1930s and the plane is
dimensionally and aerodynamically identical to the original.
This includes elements of the five patents that Bugatti was originally awarded for the 100P.
However,
instead of replicating the original engine, the Anglo-US team has used
two Suzuki Hayabusa motorbike engines, generating 200BHP each to allow
the design to fly at more than 200mph (322km/h) - slower than its
designer intended.
The replica plane (pictured) is based
on a design which was never realised but would likely have made the 100P
one of the most advanced and fastest aircraft of World War Two if it
had flown
Engineers crafted the replica aircraft
using the same materials and processes that would have been used in the
late 1930s and the plane is dimensionally and aerodynamically identical
to the original, including elements of the five patents that Bugatti
was originally awarded for the 100P. A view from the cockpit is shown
The
plane is now largely complete and a successful moderate-speed test, as
well as a high power engine test, has been conducted and filmed.
‘This
is all part of an orchestrated test profile to ensure all systems are
ready to go for the first flight a few weeks from now,’ the Kickstarter page explained.
People
who contributed more than $75 (£48) to the project will have access to a
live video stream of the first high-speed test flight.
The
craft was not realised during World War II, because in 1940, Bugatti,
who had become a French citizen, concealed his prototype 100P aircraft
in a barn in the French countryside in a bid to stop the design falling
into the Nazi’s hands.
The
French government were aware of the design but it was rumoured that
Albert Speer - Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third
Reich – also knew of its existence.
The craft was not realised during World
War II, because in 1940, Bugatti, who had become a French citizen,
concealed his prototype 100P aircraft (pictured) in a barn in the French
countryside in a bid to stop the design falling into the Nazi’s hands
Experts
believe that had the Nazis got their hands on Bugatti’s plane, it could
have eliminated the Spitfire and even changed the course of the war.
The plane survived the war but never flew, with the original being too fragile to ever be restored.
Aeronautical
enthusiasts have long thought it was an industry tragedy that the 100P,
with its stunning design and ground-breaking performance, never got the
chance to fly.
But this is about to change thanks to Musselburgh-born John Lawson, engineering director of the project dubbed Le Reve Bleu.
Italian car designer Ettore Bugatti
believed the plane would reach 500mph (805km/h), beating the German
Messerschmitt top speed of 469mph (755km/h) in 1939. Here, a World War
Two Messerschmitt 262 performs at the ILA International Air Show in
Berlin
The only aircraft built by Bugatti was
resigned to history until a team of engineers and enthusiasts set about
recreating the plane. A model of the 100P is pictured
Designed in collaboration with Ettore
Bugatti and Belgian engineer Louis de Monge, the original 1937 Bugatti
100P (shown) is considered by many to be one of the most technologically
advanced aircrafts of the era
Mr
Lawson, 59, who runs his own model making company in Nottingham, is a
former RAF engineer and used to work on the Vulcan bomber.
The trained pilot has played a vital role in designing and building the complex gearbox for the model Bugatti plane.
He said: ‘The Bugatti 100P was 85 per cent complete when the Germans invaded.
‘If
it had flown in 1940 then it would have been a revolution. It was an
incredible aeroplane and Louis de Monge, who worked on it with Ettore
Bugatti, was a brilliant engineer.'
The
100P design featured a twin, mid-mounted engine design. Both engines
would be eight cylinder 4.9 litre race car engines producing 450hp
each.
Experts believe that had the Nazis got
their hands on Bugatti’s plane (a model is shown), it could have
eliminated the Spitfire and even changed the course of the war
Bugatti was forced to conceal the aircraft
(shown) by packing it up and hiding it in a French barn to prevent the
German military discovering it. It is thought Albert Steer, one of
Hitler's ministers, was aware of the plane
The
design was ground-breaking because the wings and fuselage were intended
to provide high strength at a low weight and were constructed from a
multi-layer wood laminate - a concept still used by many planes today.
It
also featured cutting-edge aerodynamics with forward pitched wings, a
zero-drag cooling system, and computer-directed flight control.
The
100P would also have been more compact than most aircraft of the era,
with a wingspan of nearly 27 ft (8.2m) and an overall length of
approximately 25.25 ft (7.7m).
‘However,
these days it is in a very fragile state and it doesn't have an
engine,' said Mr Lawson, talking about the original which is in a museum
in Oklahoma.
'Power
was designed to be transmitted to the propellers using twin
drive-shafts located just under the pilot’s elbows and attached to the
double, counter-spinning propellers via nose-mounted transmission.
Ettore Bugatti, who helped build the
Bugatti 100P, is pictured with his son Roland in 1933. The plane would
have been fitted with two 450 horsepower engines and was designed to
reach speeds approaching 804km/h (500mph) - a feat which had never been
achieved at that time
‘I
got involved with the project four years ago after I was sent a picture
of the 100P and told some people were building one,’ he said in
February last year.
‘I
got in touch with Scotty Wilson and he asked me if I could build a
gearbox. It is a very complicated drivetrain but I thought I could have a
go at reverse engineering it from the plans and photos.
‘The
plane was designed to fly very fast in a straight line but the gearbox
wouldn't have much longevity. So I set about seeing what was needed to
give it a few hundred hours of flight.
‘It
took a while but I managed to design one in computer aided design (CAD)
software. I also had help from a group of engineering friends who were
gearbox experts.’
After suffering some setbacks which delayed completion, a gearbox was finally manufactured before being sent out to the US
Mr
Lawson then met up with managing director Scotty Wilson, from Tulsa,
Oklahoma and Simon Birney, a Briton who is the commercial director.
They hooked the gearbox up to the plane and, to the delight of everyone involved, it ran perfectly.
Musselburgh-born John Lawson, engineering
director of Reve Bleu (a model is shown) is one of the driving forces
behind the project dubbed Le Reve Bleu. The trained pilot has played a
vital role in designing and building the complex gearbox for the plane
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