Hall Bulldog Timeline of Events

Bob Hall resigns from the Granville Brothers Aircraft Company. He takes a job with the Baltrun Flying School also located at Springfield Airport.

Gee Bee Z destroyed in crash at Detroit.

Hall takes steps to acquire controlling interest in the Baltrun School. The school is divided in half leaving the flying to its original owner Joseph Baltrun. Hall is joined by William Hermann, the school's dean. Hall and Hermann take the ground school program and transform it into a school focused on aircraft design, construction and maintenance.

Hall's new school is formally renamed "The Springfield Aircraft Company Inc."

Hall and Hermann move their new school across the Connecticut River to nearby Agawam, MA. They lease hangar space at Bowles-Agawam Airport.

The students at Springfield Aircraft complete a full-scale wooden mockup of the V-1 gull-wing racer. The mockup is equipped with a new cantilever style landing gear that encloses all the major support structures inside the fuselage, reducing drag.

Hall announces his intentions to build a new racing plane based on the mockup his students have just recently completed.

Mrs. Marion Price Guggenheim and her personal pilot Russell W. Thaw fly to Springfield. The two are visiting the Granville Brothers in hopes that the company can build them a racing plane for Thaw to fly in the upcoming National Air Races. They leave town after a brief visit without signing a contract.

The Springfield Aircraft Company formally announces they intend to build a Thompson Trophy class racer. Along with the lower horsepower aircraft Hall had previously announced in early February.

The Springfield Aircraft Company begins construction of their first commissioned aircraft, the L-1 Cicada for Lt. Frank J. Lynch and his wife Josephine Lynch of Summit, NJ.

Russell Thaw returns to the Springfield area. This time to visit Hall. He is shown the design for the V-2 racer as well as some components already under construction.

Russ Thaw and his financier Marion Price Guggenheim announce they have contracted Bob Hall and his team to build them the V-2 gull-wing racer. Thaw will be flying the plane in the Bendix and Thompson Trophy races at the National Air Races in August/September. Marion sets a hard deadline of August 15th for the first flight. She will fine Hall for every day the plane doesn't fly after that date.

The Lynch L-1 Cicada is completed and makes its first flight. All the company's focus will shift to the V-2 Thaw racer.

Members of Pratt & Whitney deliver and help to install a R-1340-T3D1 Wasp engine in the V-2 racer. The engine is a special high horsepower version of the company's standard Wasp. Serial number 4820. An identical engine is also delivered to the Granville Brothers for use in their R-1 racer.

Cliff Henderson, Managing Director of the National Air Races, visits Springfield. He meets with Hall who enters the V-1 and V-2 racers in several events for the upcoming competition.

The competition gets into the air first. The Granville Brothers Gee Bee R-1 makes its maiden flight, flying from Springfield Airport to Bowles-Agawam Airport. The Granville Brothers will now share the same hangar as Hall and his crew.

Marion's Deadline. Hall and his team wrap up final details during the day on the V-2 racer. Marion Price Guggenheim is on hand and christens the plane "Bulldog." Reportedly this is due in part based on the mascot of Yale University (her husband's alma mater) as well as the short stout nature of the plane's design.

In the late afternoon Hall takes the new plane out and begins to taxi it around the field. After some minor adjustments to the landing gear he is nearly ready for the first flight attempt. Before doing so, he makes one high speed taxi across the airfield. The Bulldog briefly becomes airborne by a foot or two then settles back down onto the runway.

As he turns to get back to the start of his takeoff run, the left tire goes flat. The Bulldog is towed back to the hangar for repairs. Because of the late hour no further flights will be attempted today. Mrs. Guggenheim fines Hall $1,000 for missing the deadline.

The flat tire is repaired. It seems the brakes overheated when Bob conducted his high-speed taxi test. The excess heat caused the flat. With 500+ people to witness the event, the V-2 Bulldog makes its maiden flight around 6pm. The flight lasts about 20 minutes, during which Hall makes several swift dashes across the airfield. After landing Hall seems satisfied. He notes that the engine was overheating so he did not fully open the throttle.

That same day Granville Brothers pilot Russell Boardman is seriously injured in a crash at Springfield Airport. He was flying a Gee Bee Sportster when the plane stalled just after takeoff. The Granville Brothers are without a pilot for their plane.

The first changes are made to the V-2 in the form of an enlarged rudder. It remains grounded for the day while the modification is made.

The Bulldog makes its second flight. This time Hall remains aloft for 1 hour 15 minutes. He makes no mention of the speed which he achieved on this flight but observers on the ground estimate he reached nearly 270 mph.

Bob is back in the Bulldog for more testing. During takeoff that day the Bulldog begins an uncommanded roll to the left. The wingtip comes dangerously close to impacting the runway. Hall is able to raise the wing and cut the engine. He comes down hard on the left main gear, blowing out the tire again. The damage is minor but could have been significantly worse. In addition to the landing gear damage and the unexplained roll, the Wasp engine seems to be leaking oil.

Several streamlined panels are added to the Bulldog to reduce drag. Repairs are made to the landing gear, and a team from Pratt & Whitney overhaul the engine to find the source of the oil leak. Thaw's first flight in the plane was scheduled for this date. But the repairs take longer than expected. His flight is postponed.

The Bulldog is taken up for another hour long flight. It would have lasted longer if not for the recurrence of leaking oil. The spray from which covered the windscreen significantly limiting Hall's vision. He lands safely.

After a quick cleaning and minor repair Bob decides to fly the V-2 to the Pratt & Whitney Factory in East Hartford, Connecticut. He is hoping the manufacturer can finally solve the oil leak.

While the plane is at Rentschler Field, Russ Thaw gets his first flight in the Bulldog. It's brief, lasting only 15 minutes due to the ongoing oil problem. Thaw turns the plane over to Jimmy Collins. Collins was brought on as an impartial third opinion. He is also an experienced test pilot and will be putting the V-2 through its more risky and strenuous tests.

Thaw is unhappy with the Bulldog's stability. He requests that Hall further modify the rudder to give him greater control. Bob returns to Agawam while the engine is repaired in Hartford.

With engine repairs still underway, Hall remains in Agawam working on the newest modifications to the Bulldog. His team fabricates a panel that will span the gap between the back of the headrest and the tip of the vertical fin. This will enlarge the fin's surface area significantly and hopefully satisfy Thaw. Hall returns to Hartford with his team to install the panel on the V-2.

The new panel is installed along with a third rudder. This one slightly narrower than the previous version. Hall flies the repaired V-2 back to Bowles. There Russ Thaw gets his second flight in the Bulldog. He performs several maneuvers and speed runs over the airfield. Once more he turns the Bulldog over to Collins. Jimmy Collins stress tests the airframe, putting it through a series of hard turns and steep dives.

After landing the plane is towed directly into the Bowles hangar. Time is running low if Thaw is going to make it to the west coast for the start of the Bendix race.

A bit of good news: the Bendix start is delayed due to weather. Thaw once again requests further changes to the rudder and tailfin. The plane remains grounded all day while the parts are built and installed.

There are already rumors around the camp that Thaw will not fly the Bulldog in competition.

The V-2 emerges from the hangar looking much different than it had just a few days before. The old tail fin is completely gone, replaced with a much taller design. Hall test flies the new design in the morning. He is reportedly very satisfied.

The Bulldog is officially turned over to Russ Thaw. At 11 am he departs Bowles headed south to New York's Roosevelt Field. There the instruments will be calibrated before Thaw flies west to California and the start of the Bendix.

According to Premo Galleti, after arriving at Roosevelt the Bulldog is fully fueled for the westward flight. Thaw makes two attempts to take off but fails to lift the plane from the ground. Frustrated, he parks the V-2 and refuses to fly it in competition. Saying "This isn't my idea of a racer!" as he walks away. Per the contract only Thaw or a pilot of his choosing may fly the Bulldog in competition.

Bob has the saddle tanks drained and he flies the V-2 back to Agawam that night.

Hall and his team discuss the possibility of trying to buy the V-2 back from Mrs. Guggenheim so that it can be flown at the Nationals. Bob returns to Roosevelt Field in the Bulldog and tries to negotiate with her for permission to fly the plane. Hall even contacts pilot Charles Meyers to see if he would like to fly the Bulldog in the Bendix if he is successful in his negotiations.

The conversation with Thaw and Guggenheim does not go as Hall had hoped. The two will not give him permission to fly the plane in Cleveland. Bob remains in New York that evening and continues the discussion the following day.

Hall continues to press Thaw and Marion for permission to fly his design. Late in the afternoon they finally give in. They will allow Bob to fly to Cleveland, but they are not yet sure if they will give him permission to compete in the aircraft.

Bob leaves for Ohio immediately. He makes it as far as Akron before the sun sets. He will remain in Akron overnight.

Bob and the V-2 Bulldog arrive in Cleveland for the National Air Races. Shortly after he arrives, he is given the go-ahead from Thaw to fly the plane in competition.

Hall flies the Bulldog in the Shell Speed Dash. This is a qualifying event for the Thompson. Only aircraft that are clocked at over 200 mph will qualify for the big race. The Bulldog reaches a max speed of 245.79 mph and an average speed of 222.971 over all his passes. During one run the engine cowling comes loose. Bob is forced to reduce power to prevent it from breaking away.

The cowling is repaired. Bob files paperwork to make an official world record attempt while in Cleveland.

Bob makes an attempt at the world landplane speed record, flying over the same 3 kilometer course he flew during the Shell Speed Dash. On the downwind run he is clocked at 271.912 mph (the fastest the V-2 is ever officially clocked). On the upwind run he achieves 237.214 mph, giving him an average speed of 254.56 mph. Not enough for a record, but 32 miles per hour faster than he was just a couple days earlier.

Jimmy Doolittle pays a visit to the Hall camp. After seeing Bob's unique exhaust design Doolittle suggests that he replace it with a more traditional arrangement. He thinks it may be robbing the engine of potential power.

In his desperation to add more speed Bob takes the advice and has his crew replace the exhaust system.

Rain prevents any testing of the new exhaust.

In the morning Bob Hall can finally test the new exhaust system. Making another run over the straightaway course, he averages just 243.717 mph. The modification has reduced the V-2's speed. There is no time to replace the system before the Thompson Race in the afternoon. He must fly it as is.

Due to the wet ground the Thompson start is done at 10 second intervals. Bob will start first overall. This would be the only time he led the entire race. After a strong start he slowly drifts back in the pack. The Wasp motor and Hamilton Standard prop are not producing the power he expects. Bob crosses the finish line in 6th place, one position out of the money.

Bob Hall leaves Cleveland along with Frank Lynch in the L-1 Cicada. As it is not his property Hall leaves the V-2 behind in Cleveland for Thaw to decide its fate.

The Bulldog's engine and propeller are on consignment from their manufacturers. Sometime after the race they were removed and returned. For a time, Thaw tries to sell the Bulldog but finds no willing buyer. The plane is broken up for scrap. Portions of the plane are saved by the Cleveland Model Company. They are displayed in their showroom for a time and later donated to the scrap drives of WW2.

Hall's only other aircraft, the L-1 Cicada, is lost in a crash at Bowles Field. He closes Springfield Aircraft Co. for good in early 1933.