Gregor FDB-1 Biplane

Larry Milberry, Aviation in Canada, McGraw-Hill Ryerson 1979

Canadian Car and Foundry was a Canadian company that built rail equipment, boats and other machinery. They had secured a contract to build Grumman SF-1 biplane fighters in 1936 but wanted to design their own. A Russian-American Michael Gregor, employed at Seversky Aircraft, was hired and his task was to design a modern fighter. Although aircraft like the Hurricane (1935) Spitfire (1936) and Messerschmitt 109 (1937) clearly pointed to the future, the biplane configuration was still considered to have merit and that was what was built. The craft featuring all-metal construction, retractable landing gear and enclosed canopy, all the most advanced features- but in a biplane configuration. It first flew in 1938 and initial fights were fairly promising. Though top speed was 275-300 mph with a 750 hp radial engine, it was clearly eclipsed by the monoplanes. With WW2 on the horizon, the company acquired a contract to build Hurricanes and the FDB-1 went into storage. It was destroyed in a hangar fire in 1945.

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