Bee Aviation Wee Bee

I saw the Wee Bee at the Gatwick airshow in 1948. I am sure of the year as it was the last air show ever held there. I was 12 years old at the time.I never forgot it and have often retold the experience. At the same show a man was airlifted from the ground by a moving aircraft in the same way that mail bags were sometimes collected.

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The Wee Bee was built by Ken Coward, Bill Chana and my dad Karl Montijo, itv was the lightest aircraft at the time. The guys took it to the Paris Air show, The Gatwick Airshow and it was quite famous at the time. My father flew it since he was the lightest and a parachute would even weigh it down too much. I would love going to the aerospace museum with my family when i was a kid, seeing it next to the flying car! What memories. I actually got to help a bit with the replica . My dad worked at Rohr industries at the time and they donated all the materials and had plenty of volunteers for the restoration. Dad is alive and living in RB at this time 2 /15

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Ken currently lives at Encinitas Nursing and Rehab, 900 Santa Fe Drive, Encinitas, CA 92024. He would love to get mail from you. He is a great guy with a great family.

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As a child I lived in San Diego, CA. My dad worked for Convair as an Aeronautical Engineer. He loved flying, belonged to a flying club taking my brother and I high above San Diego on weekends. I remember going to a small airport where the Wee Bee lived. I thought it was so cute as I watched my dad fly it. Wonderful memories.

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The Wee Bee's test pilot was William 'Bill' Chana who can be seen in a photo lifting the plane off the ground before flying *on* it. Check the FraserAeroTechnology website - or search Wee Bee photo and click on it's photo to go to the Fraser site for mire info; Wikipedia's info is shanty to say the least. My dad, Walt Mooney was on the design team for all three Beecraft airplanes, and flew the single-seat Honey Bee for nearly 20 years before corrosion forced him to retire it to a museum. I had many flights in it with dad when I was small enough to squeeze in beside him. It now belongs to the San Diego Aerospace Museum, where a relic if the Wee Bee is display too.

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I have a motor for one of these that i came across when an attic was cleaned out. there was a local marine air base near that i think it may have come from. anyone interesed?

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This plane was designed and built by Ken Coward. He currently lives in Encinitas, California. I looked this plane up tonight after he told me about it. He was invited to bring it to the Marlborough airshow in England where it was exhibited and demonstrated. He told me the name of the test pilot (which I don't recall) but he said the test pilot was a B-29 flight instructor and a fine pilot.

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