Thompson Trophy-winning classic racing aircraft from the Golden Age of Air Racing, now available on the Microsoft Flight Simulator marketplace.
The Microsoft Flight Simulator team is pleased to announce their latest release in the Famous Flyers series of aircraft, the Gee Bee Model Z and Model R-2 Super Sportster, single-engine, single-seat racing monoplanes designed and built by Granville Brothers Aircraft of the United States. The company (“Gee Bee” is a phonetic representation of the initials GB) produced a few different iterations of the design, most notably the Model Z and the Model R-2. Each is one of a kind, and each is considered a historical greatness of the Golden Age of Flight due to its unique appearance and lightning-fast performance.
Spurred on by early success with their “Sportster” race plane of the late 1920s, the Granville Brothers created their first Super Sportster, the Model Z, to race in the Thompson Trophy pylon race at the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1931 The brothers, five in total, pushed the boundaries of aircraft technology at the time to squeeze every possible drop in speed from their design, including one of the first uses of a wind tunnel. The result was a racing legend with a solid fuselage, straight main wing, traditional tail unit and a cockpit positioned just in front of the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer, perhaps the Super Sportster’s most notable feature. Powered by a 9-cylinder Wasp Junior radial engine, the Model Z took first place in the 1931 Thompson Trophy and inspired the Granville Brothers to create even faster Super Sportsters.
Built for the 1932 National Air Races, the Model R-2 was built on the basis of the Model Z and looks almost identical, with the main differences being that the R-2 has a slightly longer fuselage and wing. At the 1932 races, the R-2 finished fourth in the cross-country Bendix Trophy Race and fifth in the Thompson Trophy Race.
The Microsoft Flight Simulator versions of the Model Z and R-2 have been meticulously recreated by Carenado to reflect the visual and performance spirit of these Famous Flyers for sim users. They are available today as a bundle for PC and Xbox for $14.99, exclusively on the in-SIM marketplace. Download now and get ready for an airspeed experience like no other!
Microsoft Flight Simulator is available for Xbox Series X|S and PC with Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Windows and Steam, and on Xbox One and supported mobile phones, tablets, and lower specification PCs through Xbox Cloud gaming. For the latest information about Microsoft Flight Simulator† stay tuned to @MSFSOfficial on Twitter†
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