Hall "Bulldog"

Hall Bulldog Racer airplane model. The Bulldog Racer, designed and built by Robert Hall, emerged from his expertise as an engineering/test pilot in the early 1930s. After contributing to the design of the renowned Gee Bee-Z with the Granville Brothers, a disagreement led Hall to part ways and pursue his own aircraft designs. His initial creation was a two-seater named Chicada, intended for the England to Melbourne Race, featuring a unique insect-like paint job. His subsequent design, funded by the Guggenheim family, was a compact, single-seat, gull-winged aircraft built for the 1932 Cleveland National Air Races and the Thompson Race. However, the Bulldog's gull wings caused directional control stability issues, necessitating multiple modifications to the vertical fin and rudder, particularly an increase in the fin and rudder area above the wing level to mitigate turbulence, and adjustments to the ailerons to prevent lateral control reversal.

During the Thompson Race qualifications, the Bulldog achieved a speed of 243.717 mph, but only managed 215.57 mph in the race, with a fleeting peak of 270 mph. Competing against the Gee Bee R1 & R2 and three Wedell-Williams Racers in the Thompson Trophy event, the Bulldog secured a sixth-place finish. There is speculation that a constricted air inlet may have prevented the Bulldog from reaching its full potential. Following the races, the Bulldog was disassembled, and its engine was returned to Pratt & Whitney.