The Gee Bee R-6 is being prepared for sea transport to Britain for the MacRobertson Air Race, following its unsuccessful participation in the Bendix Trophy in which it wore race number 77. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Jacqueline Cochran and Wesley Smith Pratt unsuccessfully took part in the London - Melbourne air race in the Gee Bee R-6, dropping out in Bucharest. Photo from: Nationaal Archief (Netherlands)

The R-6 was larger than the earlier Gee Bee racers, but still seems an uncomfortable choice for the 18,000 km London to Melbourne Air Race. Jacqueline Cochran and Wesley Smith Pratt only got as far as Bucharest where they damaged Q.E.D. as the aircraft was named. It participated in other races but never finished one. In 1938 it was sold to Mexican pilot Francisco Sarabia as XB-AKM and renamed Conquistador del Cielo. After a flight from Mexico City to New York City in 1939, Sarabia crashed at Washington - Bolling Field and drowned in the Potomac. The plane has been restored and is preserved in his home town, Ciudad Lerdo. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum