The Christmas Bullet, later known as the Cantilever Aero Bullet (sometimes referred to as the Christmas Strutless Biplane), was an American single-seat cantilever wing biplane. It is considered by many to be among the worst aircraft ever constructed. The designer, Dr. William Whitney Christmas (1865–1960), had no experience in aircraft design or aeronautical work, despite claiming to have invented the aileron, and obtaining many patents over the years based on his aeronautical research. His far-fetched assertions were proved untrue. It was never proved, but his activities make a fine example of the art of the Con man and Snake Oil Salesman. To the plane in question. The single-seat "Christmas Bullet" featured an all-wood construction with a veneer-clad fuselage. Despite his claims to the contrary, neither design feature reduced aerodynamic drag nor was he among the first to use this method of construction; the majority of German World War I-era two-seater aircraft used for bombing and reconnaissance were similarly constructed. The "Bullet" was powered by a prototype Liberty 6 engine. The Liberty L-6, which developed 200–215 hp, was built by the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corp. and Wright Aeronautical Corp, based on the same engine design as the more successful Liberty L-12 V-12 liquid-cooled aviation engine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_L-6 Although the US Army had been persuaded to loan an engine, the proviso was that the prototype engine was to be fitted into an airframe for ground testing only. Merely by looking at the aircraft one can see that the design had a serious flaw in that it lacked any kind of struts or braces for the wings, with Christmas' insistence that they should be flexible. Control of the aircraft was meant to be achieved by wing warping to its flying surfaces. Although the Chief Engineer of Continental Aircraft Company, of Long Island, Vincent Burnelli, tried to institute changes, the "Christmas Bullet" was completed with the original design features intact. Construction materials were scrounged from available wood and steel stock and were not "aircraft grade", which was also a concern to Burnelli. On its maiden flight in January 1919, the wings of the "Bullet" peeled from the fuselage and the aircraft crashed, killing the pilot, Cuthbert Mills. The destruction of the prototype Liberty engine was never revealed to the US Army and a second Bullet was built powered by a Hall-Scott L-6 engine. Despite the crash, Christmas placed an ad in Flying magazine stating that the Christmas Bullet achieved a 197 mph top speed demonstrated in front of Col Harmon at Central Park, Long Island. The second aircraft was displayed in Madison Square Garden on 8 March 1919 as the "First Strutless Airplane". It was also destroyed on its first flight, again with the loss of the test pilot, Lt. Allington Joyce Jolly. A contemporary technical description with photographs and drawings appeared in Flight, 13 February 1919, claiming that "it would seem that such construction would result in a low factor of safety, but the designer claims a safety factor of seven throughout". https://archive.org/details/Flight_International_Magazine_1919-02-13-pdf/page/n15/mode/2up The Specs and claimed performance General characteristics Crew: 1 Length: 21 ft 0 in (6.40 m) Wingspan: 28 ft 0 in (8.53 m) Wing area: 170 sq ft (15.79 m2) Empty weight: 1,820 lb (826 kg) Gross weight: 2,100 lb (953 kg) Powerplant: 1 × Liberty 6 , 185 hp (138 kW) Performance Maximum speed: 175 mph (282 km/h, 152 kn) (anticipated) Range: 550 mi (885 km, 480 nmi) Service ceiling: 14,700 ft (4,481 m) What was it supposed to fly like?
