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Edward G. Budd founded the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company in 1930 with the purpose of building aircraft of all-welded stainless steel construction, which would make them lighter, stronger and safer. This was a first in America, and when it came out in 1931 the BB-1 Pioneer amphibian was highly publicized as a result.
The Pioneer was a high-wing cabin monoplane with a 210 hp Kinner C-5 engine. The design itself was not exactly new, since it reused Savoia-Marchetti design concepts. As a matter of fact, the sole BB-1 [NR749N] (c/n 1) appears to have been modified from the first of 31 Savoia-Marchetti S.56 aircraft built by the American Aeronautical Corporation from Port Washington, NY.
The BB-1 underwent extensive testing, with pursuit-like loops, barrel-rolls and various stunts; it even landing once with its gear retracted to prove the strength of its hull. After six years of extensive testing and active service, being flown by over 25 pilots in both America and Europe (even twice over the Alps at 16,000 ft., fully loaded), the Pioneer was dismantled in 1936, apparently as a marketing ploy to prove the reliability of its construction. It was placed on exhibition in front of Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, "completely denuded, exposed to all kinds of atmospheric conditions, rain, snow, ice and dust." After three years of that treatment, the Pioneer's condition was deemed so "structurally perfect" that "there was no sign of wear, no deterioration, no corrosion of structural parts or welds." They estimated that, with a new power plant, the ship would be "ready to fly again for an unlimited time."
Although largely forgotten nowadays, the BB-1 Pioneer permitted great advances in aviation by introducing stainless steel construction and proving its validity.
The Pioneer was a high-wing cabin monoplane with a 210 hp Kinner C-5 engine. The design itself was not exactly new, since it reused Savoia-Marchetti design concepts. As a matter of fact, the sole BB-1 [NR749N] (c/n 1) appears to have been modified from the first of 31 Savoia-Marchetti S.56 aircraft built by the American Aeronautical Corporation from Port Washington, NY.
The BB-1 underwent extensive testing, with pursuit-like loops, barrel-rolls and various stunts; it even landing once with its gear retracted to prove the strength of its hull. After six years of extensive testing and active service, being flown by over 25 pilots in both America and Europe (even twice over the Alps at 16,000 ft., fully loaded), the Pioneer was dismantled in 1936, apparently as a marketing ploy to prove the reliability of its construction. It was placed on exhibition in front of Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, "completely denuded, exposed to all kinds of atmospheric conditions, rain, snow, ice and dust." After three years of that treatment, the Pioneer's condition was deemed so "structurally perfect" that "there was no sign of wear, no deterioration, no corrosion of structural parts or welds." They estimated that, with a new power plant, the ship would be "ready to fly again for an unlimited time."
Although largely forgotten nowadays, the BB-1 Pioneer permitted great advances in aviation by introducing stainless steel construction and proving its validity.
