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The Creator of The World's Only Bugatti 100P Replica Died In A Test Flight

Ettore Bugatti had designed a plane in 1938, but his creation never flew, and the only prototype was destroyed.
Scotty Wilson in Bugatti 100P replica 9 photos
Photo: Screenshot from video
Scotty Wilson in Bugatti 100P replicaScotty Wilson in Bugatti 100P replicaScotty Wilson in Bugatti 100P replicaScotty Wilson in Bugatti 100P replicaScotty Wilson in Bugatti 100P replicaScotty Wilson in Bugatti 100P replicaScotty Wilson in Bugatti 100P replicaScotty Wilson in Bugatti 100P replica
Many years later, a pilot named Scotty Wilson had created a replica of the Bugatti 100P, and had successfully flown it. This weekend, Scotty Wilson took off for the very last time in the Bugatti 100P reproduction, but he crashed within minutes after leaving the runway at the Clinton-Sherman Air Filed in Burns Flat, Oklahoma.

According to KFOR, witnesses at the air show were present to see the Bugatti 100P’ third test flight. They observed the aircraft leave the runway at a modest speed, and then taking a sharp bank left, followed by a nose-first crash in a field.

A helicopter attempted to provide assistance to the pilot, but Scotty Wilson lost his life because of the impact. The tragic situation got worse as the wooden frame made the wreckage burn for an hour after the accident took place.

After this flight, the machine was supposed to be sent to a museum in the United Kingdom, where it would be exhibited as the only existing build of Ettore Bugatti’s creation, an extremely fast and light airplane that was supposed to set a world speed record.

The only model ever made never took flight and had to be destroyed to prevent it reaching Nazi hands, so Wilson had spent the last seven years of his life to secure the funds required to building and flying this unique aircraft.

As its builder described the Bugatti 100P, this was “the most historically significant airplane that never flew,” said Wilson. The pilot that was flying this aircraft had a professional life that consisted of flying fighter planes and testing various aircraft, and had over 11,000 hours of flight time.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will begin an inquiry into the causes of the accident, which has taken the life of the person that knew this aircraft down to the last bolt.

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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