The Gregor FDB-1:
Canada’s Homegrown Biplane Fighter

Story by Bill Zuk,
National Membership Secretary,
Canadian Aviation Historical Society
April 2025
The Gregor FDB-1, designed and built by the Canadian Car and Foundry (CCF), represents a last effort to create an advanced biplane fighter in an era when monoplanes proved ascendant. The Gregor FDB-1 was conceived and designed in 1937 by Michael Gregor (Mikhail Leontyevich Grigorashvili), a Russian-born engineer working for CCF as the Chief Aeronautical Engineer.
Left-to-right: George Ayde, designer Michael Gregor and Can-Car representative David Boyd standing at the FDB-1 fighter at rollout. Image copyright free from WikiCommons.
Since the First World War, biplane fighter aircraft predominated in the air force arsenals worldwide but in the 1930s, aviation technology was undergoing a dramatic transformation. Monoplanes were proving to be better suited to the demands of modern air combat. Aircraft like the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire were about to set new standards for speed and firepower, signaling the end of the biplane era.
 
Michael Gregor believed that biplanes would still be effective and challenge the monoplane for supremacy. His FDB-1, whose designation stemmed from its role as a Fighter, Dive Bomber (also known as the Model 10), was an attempt to create a modern biplane fighter that could compete with the emerging monoplane designs. It featured advanced elements such as retractable landing gear, a streamlined all-metal fuselage, enclosed cockpit and a 750 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior radial engine. While it was a biplane, the FDB-1 was designed to bridge the gap between the old and new generations of fighters.
The Canadian Car and Foundry had undertaken licence production of American designs such as the Grumman SF-1 Goblin but, when in 1937, Gregor made his pitch to the company executives, the possibility of creating their own design was alluring. He proposed a biplane with a potential top speed that would rival contemporary monoplane designs yet offer advantages in maneuverability, rate of climb, greater ceiling and low speed capabilities.

In early 1938, after 1/10 scale models were tested in Hawker UK’s wind tunnel and at the National Research Council in Ottawa, construction began in the CCF’s main facility at Fort William, Ontario (today, Thunder Bay). The FDB-1 prototype took to the skies for the first time on 17 December 1938, at Bishopsfield Airport in Fort William. The aircraft was flown by test pilot George Ayde, who reported that the FDB-1 handled well and demonstrated impressive performance.
Cigarette card: FDB-1. Image copyright free from WikiCommons.
Following its successful maiden flight, the FDB-1 underwent evaluation by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The RCAF’s assessment was largely positive, with officials describing the FDB-1 as the "most successful effort" among Canadian-designed fighters. However, by this time, the RCAF had already begun to shift its focus to monoplane designs. Even the CCF had decided to move on as the company entered contract negotiations to build the Hawker Hurricane under the direction of the new Chief Aeronautical Engineer, Elsie Gregory MacGill.
FDB-1 test flight. Image copyright free from WikiCommons.
In May 1939, the Gregor FDB-1 was transported to Saint Hubert Airport, near Montreal to begin its certificate of airworthiness tests. Michael Gregor was to remain with the project as the company began to look for a market. In January 1940, the aircraft was entered in the McFadden New York–Miami Air Race but was disqualified when dropping oil pressure put a halt to its flight.
 
With interest from the Mexican Air Force, the FBD-1 was being prepared for transit to Mexico in May 1940 when an export permit fell through. After a few minor mishaps, the aircraft was placed in storage in 1942 at the Cartierville Airport in Montreal where it was disassembled. Its final fate was decided when the hangar fire at the airport in 1945 consumed the Gregor FDB-1.
 
The Gregor FDB-1 remains a symbol of Canada’s ambition to develop an indigenous fighter aircraft during a time of rapid change in aviation technology. Its advanced design and impressive performance during test flights demonstrated the potential of Canadian innovation, even if it never achieved production or operational success.
 
The FDB-1, despite its merits, was seen as a relic of a bygone era. Its story is one of innovation, missed opportunities, and a tragic end. Like its designer, it soon faded into history.