Subscribe to download
Starr Bumble Bee

The Bumble Bee was designed and built for the sole purpose of taking the record for the world’s smallest aircraft. Robert Starr had been involved as pilot and designer in two previous record-holding smallest aircraft dating back to 1949. Feeling that he had not received the amount of credit he was due for his participation in those efforts, he decided to take the record for himself. In 1979, he began work on the Bumble Bee and after five years of design and construction the tiny aircraft was ready for flight. The first flights of the Bumble Bee were on January 28, 1984 at Marana, Arizona, and the aircraft was credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest aircraft ever flown. The record stood until August of that year when one of Starr’s former partners built and flew an even smaller aircraft. The records were modified slightly to give Starr the record for the smallest biplane while the other contestant took the record for the smallest monoplane. Starr broke his own biplane record in 1988 with the Bumble Bee II. Unfortunately, that aircraft was destroyed in a crash not long after setting the record.

Controls:
- Main controls: Aircraft roll, pitch, yaw
- Engine speed: Jet throttle
- Pitch trim: F/V
- Roll trim: J/K
- Flaps: T
- Wheel brake: Z
- Hand brake: G
- Unlock wheels: W

How to fly:
Takeoff: Start by unlocking the wheels with ‘W’, add some trim up with ‘F’. Slowly increase the prop speed with the jet throttle, and keep increasing it slowly while taking off. You need to use right rudder while taking off, to go in a straight line. The plane should take off at around 100 km/h (60 mph). The plane will roll left once it leaves the ground, so be prepared to correct for that.
In the air: Increase throttle to max. Most likely retrim pitch. Trim the roll with J/K.
Landing: Turn down the prop speed with jet throttle decrease. The prop will keep spinning due to aerodynamic forces. Retrim pitch and roll. You can toggle the flaps with ‘T’. Try to reduce speed. At lower speed, try to fly close to the ground, while keeping altitude using pitch trim. With the flaps, the plane can land at around 80 km/h (50 mph). Once on the ground, press ‘Z’ to brake. Landing the plane is even harder than taking off.

DCB Specs:
- 100 km/h (60 mph) take off speed
- 80 km/h (50 mph) landing speed
- 270 km/h (170 mph) maximum speed
- 1.9 m wing span
- 3.0 m length
- 340 kg weight
- 85 hp rod glitch prop engine w/ 1.5 m diameter propeller (made using design from zaluris)
- Biplane wings with T-tail
- Moveable ailerons, elevators, rudder and flaps
- Elevator and aileron trim
- Taildragger landing gear, with invisible rear wheel
- Almost full internal frame, except for rear wheel, control surfaces, and propeller