We have an engine! The Hall Springfield Bulldog project has passed an important milestone with the purchase of a Pratt & Whitney R-1340. With generous donations from members of the Hall family, Eric Hall and Skip Hall, the project facilitator Griggs Irving and the person responsible for building the airplane, Jim Jenkins, our Bulldog is one step closer to taking to the skies.
Ever since the Bulldog project was pulled down from the rafters, there have been a few major components that have been glaring because of their absence. The airplane was missing both an engine and propeller. Jim had been keeping his eyes open for a Wasp motor, and earlier this year spotted one online that looked like it might work.
The engine had been taken out of an Ag Cat in Arizona for a T-6 project. Bob Marshall, the owner of an award winning Vultee BT-13, had the engine sitting in a hangar in Montana, so Jim made the trip east to see if the engine was going to work. Upon arrival, he was pleased with what he saw. The engine, an R-1340-AN-1, was in good shape. It was going to be a great fit for the Bulldog.
So Jim and Bob loaded the massive radial into the back of Jim’s pickup and the engine found a new home here at 3W5. It’s going to need a bit or cosmetic restoration, and maybe some minor internal work, but it’s exciting to have the big motor sitting here in the restoration shop.
The new engine is rated at 600 horsepower for take-off, 550hp continuous. The original Hall Springfield Bulldog had an R-1340 as well. But a series of complications including an induction problem, fuel lines that were a bit too small and a controllable pitch propeller that was still being worked out meant the engine wasn’t developing all of the horsepower it was capable of.
In 1932, it’s estimated the engine was developing somewhere between 525-550 horsepower. The same motor on the GeeBee R-1 was putting out more than 750hp. With that kind of power, the Bulldog would have been a more competitive air racer if had not been dismantled after less than a year of flying.
Having the engine and airframe together here on the shop floor at the museum, it’s amazing to think back to when these airplanes were designed. There is a whole lot of motor for such a small airplane. It was a relatively simple recipe for speed in the 1930s. Tuck the smallest airplane possible behind a big engine.
We don’t plan on trying to set any speed records with the Bulldog. We simply want to see its beautiful lines arcing across the sky once again. We want to help recreate some of the magic that existed in 1932 when air racing captured the attention of the nation.
If you are interested in getting involved with the Bulldog project, please contact us here. Our next big task is to find a propeller. We are accepting donations (including a propeller if you happen to have the one) and hope to have others join us in this exciting recreation of air racing history.
