Christmas Bullet
Christmas Aeroplane Company · United States · first flew 1919 · fighter
The Christmas Bullet, later the Cantilever Aero Bullet, was an American single-seat cantilever-wing biplane scout. It is considered by many to be among the worst aircraft of its time.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Single-seat scout with a veneer-clad all-wood fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Cantilever biplane wings with no struts or bracing wires
- Single-seat scout with a veneer-clad all-wood fuselage
- Single Liberty 6 engine in the nose
Look for a small single-seat biplane with no interplane struts or wires at all, the wings joined to the fuselage only at the roots.
Specifications
- The Christmas Bullet has a length of 6.4 m (21 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 8.53 m (28 ft).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
It was designed by William Whitney Christmas, with Vincent Burnelli at Continental Aircraft. The wings had no struts or braces because Christmas insisted they should be flexible, with control by wing warping.
Variants
Two were built. The first used a prototype Liberty 6 engine and the second a Hall-Scott L-6.
Where you'll see it
On its maiden flight in January 1919 the wings peeled from the fuselage and the aircraft crashed, killing pilot Cuthbert Mills. The second aircraft was displayed but the type never entered service.
Related aircraft
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