The Bumble Bee II was designed and built by
Robert H. Starr in Phoenix, Arizona with the intent of breaking the record for the world's smallest biplane. Before building the
Bumble Bee II, Starr had been deeply involved with the development of previous aircraft holding the title of "world's smallest airplane". His own plane, the
Bumble Bee I, had lost the record to an aircraft called the
Stits DS-1 Baby Bird, until the
Bumble Bee II flew and regained the Guinness record. The design of the
Bumble Bee II was similar to Starr's original
Bumble Bee I. Both aircraft were biplanes with negative staggered, cantilevered wings and
conventional landing gear. However, the
Bumble Bee II was smaller and lighter with a
fuselage constructed of welded steel tubing covered by sheet metal, and wings covered in aircraft
plywood. The power plant was a
Continental C85 four-cylinder air-cooled horizontally opposed cylinder engine that produced . The upper wings had flaps while the lower wings had ailerons. All wing air-frame structures were equipped with
tip plates to enhance the lift coefficient. The airplane had a small cockpit with the rudder pedals located under the engine compartment toward the front of the cowling. ==Operational history==