Thomas, Mark, Robert, Edward, and Zantford were five brothers who grew up on a farm near Madison, N.H. Born on Sept. 2, 1901, Zantford Delbert Granville (known as “Granny”) shifted from farming to aviation, launching a career that would make him both famous and infamous for his radical racing plane designs. Work began on the first Gee Bee, named in reference to the initials of the “Granville Brothers” in 1929. Between that point and 1934, the Granvilles produced some of the world’s fastest airplanes during the golden age of air racing.

But the good times weren’t to last, with the first Gee Bee accident of many taking place in 1931. The Gee Bees were built for speed but not for safety. Zantford Granville would eventually meet his own death in a Gee Bee, plunging into a nosedive while delivering a plane to a customer. But his dreams and daring designs made aviation history. In the memoirs of his widow, Alta, she recalled how Granny first described his drive to learn how to fly: “Listen Hon, I would rather live a few years doing something my heart and soul is in than to live a lifetime doing something I didn’t give a tinker’s damn about.”