Prototypes worth modelling-The Christmas Bullet.

**wonwinglo** · 24-12-2005

CHRISTMAS BULLET.

William Whitney Christmas was Born in 1865, Christmas attended St. John's Military Academy, the University of Virginia, and George Washington University obtaining Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees and becoming a medical doctor. However, he left his medical practice shortly after the Wright Brother's first flights to pursue his own interest in the new field of aviation.
Dr. Christmas claimed to make his first flight in March of 1908 in a plane of his own design. Furthermore, he claimed that after the vehicle crashed into a tree, he burned it to prevent his design secrets from being stolen. While there is no solid evidence to support this story, Christmas did patent, build, and fly a biplane of his own design in 1909. This aircraft, known as the Red Bird, was representative of many of his later designs and can be distinguished by its anhedral (down-sloping) upper wings and dihedral (up-sloping) lower wings. Another noteworthy tidbit about this design is that it appears to be a virtual copy of a plane built by a company named AEA that was, interestingly enough, also known as the Red Bird. In the words of one historian, "the eccentric Dr. Christmas was not above employing the ideas of others" and may well have patented another company's design!
Nonetheless, the success of the Red Bird and a modified Red Bird II led to the founding of the Christmas Aeroplane Company based in Washington, DC, in 1910. The company became the Durham Christmas Aeroplane Sales & Exhibition Company around 1912 and later the Cantilever Aero Company after moving to Copiague, NY, in 1918.
While few of Christmas' aircraft ever saw production, his most famous and controversial design was the Christmas Bullet shown above.