Maker Space Takes Flight at Westport Library

Maker Space is the newest piece of  Director Maxine Bleiweis’ vision of the “Library as a cornerstone of downtown Westport,” as a community center, and a place for creatives to gather, work and share their passions.  

Maker Space is now open and active, home to a summer model aircraft building program headed by the Library’s first Maker-in- Residence, Westport builder Joseph Schott.  He is leading the construction of two models of the GeeBee Model R-1 Super Sportster, one of most famous racing planes from the Golden Age of airplane racing in the 1930s. 

This project has attracted a variety of people, from professional woodworkers to kibitzers.  Grandfathers bring their grandchildren, parents bring their children, and many others – boys and girls – come by themselves or with friends.  

Even a number of WWII pilots, navigators and radiomen have come by to share their stories, including a radioman who flew on B-17s and B24s over Europe and was shot down but lived to tell the tale. Another visitor brought a bit of Catch 22 to life – flying his 25 missions, then a couple more “while his paperwork was being processed.” 

 The Maker Space lets some people to get back to using tools again, but for others, it’s pure discovery – using the tools earlier generations took for granted when every man could be his own carpenter or mechanic, even plumber or electrician, if not furniture builder or even home remodeler. A 3D printer is in operation next to the structure, “printing” objects from free Computer Aided Design software, including tools to help build the planes. 

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The planes under construction are one-half scale models that will soon hang from the ceiling near two model pylons, and will recreate a scene from a 1930s air race.

The Golden Age began in earnest after Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight and was brought to a close by the start of WWII.  It was driven by the maker spirit of technologically creative designers, facilitated by the availability of surplus WWI equipment and fueled by daredevil pilots pursuing records, trophies and cash prizes. 

The one and only R-1 was built by the Granville Brothers, a Springfield, Massachusetts, manufacturer of racing planes.  The five brothers started the business in 1929, only to see it fall into bankruptcy five years later.  During its short life, GB produced but 24 planes, most specifically to compete for what was then big prize money.  Only two of their planes still exist.

The R-1 was built quickly, and on a shoe string budget, for the 1932 Cleveland Air Races.  It had a wire braced wood frame that enveloped an 800 hp, nine cylinder supercharged radial Pratt & Whitney engine. It was a tiny, stubby, tubby plane, little more than an big engine with little wings.  It was designed for speed and built to be highly responsive – that is, it was marginally controllable and required a pilot with superior skills.

Jimmy Doolittle piloted the R-1 to victory in Cleveland in September of 1932, setting a speed record of 253 miles per hour and winning the Thompson Trophy – the most prestigious award of the era – and $4,500.  Just a few days before he had cranked it up to 293 mph, but was denied the world record on a technicality. Famed as he was by the 1930s for his long list of flying firsts, Doolittle is best known today as the leader of the audacious April, 1942 raid on Tokyo that produced the first U.S. victory of WWII.  

Ten months after the Cleveland win the R-1 met its first demise, crashing during a long distance race and killing its pilot.  It was rebuilt, crashed again, this time “only” severely injuring its pilot.  Again it was rebuilt, modified against the advice of the Granvilles.  It crashed on its first flight, again killing its pilot. It was not rebuilt, but two non-flying replicas were built from the original plans.  One is on display at the New England Air Museum at Bradley International Airport, the second at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

According to Schott, the GeeBee R-1, like most planes of the Golden Age era of racing, embodied the essence of the “Maker spirit.”  Most were built by hobbyists – designed, built, tested, and revised again and again.  That’s exactly what Schott and his team of Makers are doing now at the Library. Keep an eye on westportlibrary.org for updates on the plane construction and suspension from the ceiling of the Library!