Scott Wilson, the builder, chief test pilot and leader of the Bugatti 100P Project, was killed when the prototype of the experimental plane crashed during a flight test last week. Wilson, a highly qualified Air Force test pilot, had spent the past seven years carefully recreating Ettore Bugatti’s 100P, one of the most beautiful aircraft ever designed, assembling a multi-national team of engineers, fabricators and pilots to work on Le Rêve Bleu, The Blue Dream, with the goal of proving Bugatti’s incredibly advanced aircraft could actually fly.
“This is a devastating loss,” said Peter Mullin, President of the American Bugatti Club and Chairman of both the Petersen and Mullin Automotive Museums. “Scotty dedicated years of his life to this aircraft and when it first took to the air with him at the controls in 2015, Ettore Bugatti’s dream was finally realized. He was a friend, a passionate aeronautical engineer and a great pilot. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Wilson family and to all of those who dedicated time and energy to the 100P.”