Bugatti Model 100
The Bugatti Model 100 was a purpose-built air racer designed to compete in the 1939 Deutsch de la Meurthe Cup Race. The aircraft was not completed by the September 1939 deadline and was put in storage prior to the German invasion of France. Development Ettore Bugatti started work in 1938 to design a racer to compete in the Deutsch de la Meurthe Cup Race, using engines sold in his automotive line for co-marketing. Bugatti's chief engineer was Louis de Monge, with whom Bugatti had worked before. Bugatti was also approached by the government of France to use the technology of the racing aircraft to develop a fighter variant for mass production. The aircraft was the source of five modern patents, including the inline engines, v-tail mixer controls and the automatic flap system. Design The Model 100 had an unusual inboard mounted twin engine arrangement driving forward-mounted contra-rotating propellers through driveshafts. The aircraft also featured a 120-degree v-tail arrangement and retractable landing gear. The construction was mostly of wood, with sandwiched layers of balsa and hardwoods, including tulipwood stringers covered with doped fabric. Operational history With the outbreak of World War II and the imminent fall of Paris, Bugatti had the