Legendary Bugatti plane makes first flight

The Bugatti as a car is a wonder on wheels itself, and when it was mentioned that there was going to be a plane of the same name, then the wonder has developed wings.
The Bugatti plane idea has been an idea since the 3os according to Yahoo Auto, when Bugatti teamed up with Belgian aeronautical engineer Louis de Monge to create the Bugatti 100P—a racing plane intended to break world speed records and compete in the 1939 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe air race. With a projected top speed of 500 mph, it looked to be a clear favorite. However it never flew, ever.
As the German army advanced across France, the aeronautical pride and joy of de Monge and Bugatti was disassembled, stored in Ettore Bugatti’s estate during World War II, and forgotten. It has since been restored, but deemed too fragile to fly.
This stunning aircraft is a modern replica, intended to showcase the Bugatti 100P for the engineering marvel it always was, and it just completed its historic first flight.
Though only a replica, the achievement is stunning nonetheless, and serves as proof of the engineering prowess of Bugatti and de Monge.

Read also: Solar powered plane in record flight

The original art-deco infused Bugatti 100P featured a number of advanced designs for 1939, including forward-swept wings, a Y-shape empennage, automatic wing flaps, dual counter-rotating propellers, and a composite construction of hard wood and balsa wood.
This painstakingly recreated 100P—built under the direction of aviation enthusiast Scott E. Wilson—tacks on the same features, however instead of two Bugatti 450 horsepower straight-eight engines behind the cockpit, there are now a pair of Hayabusa motorcycle engines.
Overall, the 100P’s first flight was a success. The plane went airborne and touched down safely on the runway for the first time ever. Unfortunately a brake failure caused Wilson and his craft to run off the airstrip, though the plane appears to be structurally sound after the incident.”

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now