First of the Travel Air line, officially introduced in March 1926 as the Maiden Wichita. First flying on 13 March 1925 piloted by Walter Beech, it was priced at $3,500, rising to $2,195 in 1930.
A full-page company ad in Aero Digest of Aug 1928 featured “Old Number One” as being built in 1924 (the company was formed on 1/26/25), bought by O E Scott of St Louis, with a photo showing a tail number NC241 c/n 1. Since licensing came in 1927, it was obviously licensed and the photo made about that time.
Presently it is in the EAA collection, on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum.
Travel Air built some efficient monoplanes, including the Woolaroc that obvious imitation of Lindbergh’s Ryan with which Art Goebel won the doleful Dole Derby race to Honolulu.
The Winstead Special was derived by the Winstead brothers from an initial metal fuselage frame developed at Swallow by Stearman and Walter Beech, and subsequently discarded by Swallow. The rejection of the metal frame concept, by Swallow president Jake Moellendick, triggered the departure of Stearman and Beech, and the creation of Travel Air.
Walter H. Beech formed the Travel Air Manufactuing Company in Wichita, Kansas, USA, in 1924. The Travel Air Manufacturing Company was in essence Waiter Beech, Lloyd Stearman and Clyde Cessna, all backed by Walter P. Innes. In 1926, Stearman quit to go it alone. Cessna followed a year later. Cessna’s bone of contention was that he thought the monoplane was the way to go, while Walter Beech felt there was life left yet in the biplane.
26 Jan 1925: Travel Air Mfg Co, 471 W First St, Wichita KS
Noted chiefly for its Model 2000 / 3000 / 4000 / 8000 / 9000 family of commercial and training biplanes of the mid/late 1920s.
Renamed Travel Air Inc in February 1925, the Wichita, Kansas, based company built many famous aircraft with designations starting with No.1 and Model A, through to model 11 and the Model R Mys¬tery Ship. Travelair Model R ‘Mystery Ships’ came first in 1929 Thompson Trophy race and 2nd in 1930, easily beating best U.S. Army and Navy entries.
1926: 535 W Douglas Ave. Wichita KS
Lycoming Co claims that on 3 Apr 1929 the first appearance of a Lycoming aircraft engine, a 215hp R-680, was used for trial flights on a Travel Air biplane, but on exactly which model was not stated. We’re still searching …
In August 1929, stock changed hands, and the Curtiss Wright Corporation be¬came the controlling power in Travel Air. Travel Air’s production had been one tenth of the total U. S. output of commercial airplanes, so it must have looked like a good buy to Curtiss Wright. That same year was the year of the highly successful Mystery Ship racers.
Around 1930, Walter and one of the designers at Travel Air, Ted Wells, began discussing plans for a high-performance, four place cabin biplane. Both men were firm believers in biplanes and hoped to convince Curtiss Wright that it should build the plane. Wells and his group completed the design, but since the Depression was already upon them, C W was not about to introduce a new airplane and soon was forced to cease all Travel Air production with the Model 16. As the Depression hit, Beech found himself with a pocketful of cash from the sale of his stock in the Travel Air Corporation and a job as sales boss of the Curtiss Wright headquarters in New York. It seemed a good time to quit, and he did.
Travel Airs generally featured overhanging “elephant ears” ailerons on 1000, 2000, 3000, A-4000 and W-4000; round wingtips all others. V-type gear with shock cords on 2000, 3000, A-4000, E-4000, K-4000 and W-4000; knee-type, oleo strut gear all others.
1931: Curtiss-Wright Airplane Co, Lambert Field, St Louis MO.
But Beech believed in the new airplane and wasn’t going to be dissuaded by corporations, depressions or the immutable laws of economics. In 1932, he and his wife and a handful of others started the Beech Aircraft Company specifically to build the Ted Wells design. Continuing with the Travel Air numbering, it would be called the Model 17. Although Beech and Clyde Cessna had philosophical disagreements on biplanes versus monoplanes.
This Road Air was the first prototype, and last production model built by Herbert Trautman. The idea of making a car that could fly had always been a fascination for Herb. The idea for a plane/car combination was first conceived of in the aviation pioneer days prior to World War I but technical limitations of the time prevented any serious progress to be made. Interest was rekindled in the late 1920’s when ideas and activity flourished. It first flew in 1946. By 1950, Herb Trautmann had begun construction of the Road Airand, Herb continued to build his dream car until it was completed in 1959.
After finishing his dream flying car, Herb was ready for his maiden flight. Herb climbed in, locked the hatch, started the Road Air and began to taxi. Feeling comfortable he began to get the feel of the Road Air on faster and faster runs. Finally, he lined up into the wind, applied full power and headed down the runway. At about 90 mph the Road Air lifted off the ground to about 3 feet. As Herb soon began to loose control, he set the Road Air back on the runway averting disaster. He put it in storage, never to be flown again.
Called the Roadair, the car has a body 15 feet long and 7 feet 10 inches wide. As an auto, it rides on a tricycle gear, the single rear wheel driven by a small gasoline motor. As an airplane, the wings fold out from the body to a 25 foot wingspread. A 75-horsepower airplane engine drives the single pusher propeller. Twin rudders and elevator are located in the rear. Expected retail price was approximately $10,000. Estimated cruising speeds are 90 miles per hour in air and up to 75 on ground. FAA experimental license has been issued. Roadair operates us auto or plane from same controls. Same action moves rudders and wheels. Wings fold up inside body.
When Kermit purchased the Tallmantz Collection in 1985 the Road Air was on loan for display by Mr. Trautmann. When packing the collection for shipment to Florida, Herb, in his eighties, came out for a visit to decide what to do with his aircraft. He had no place to store it and when Kermit offered to take it back to Florida, Mr. Trautman signed over a Bill of Sale and gave it to him on the spot.
In 1996 the Road Air was restored to run-able condition. It is sometimes taken by trailer to trade shows and events as an attention getter to help promote Fantasy of Flight. On one promotional outing, the Road Air was taken down to the local U.S.A. Speedway and driven around the track for a quick demonstration.
The idea of an agricultural aircraft followed a meeting between George Wing, Lloyd Stearman, Tom Watson (from Aerial Agriculture in Sydney, Australia) and George Roth (of Murryair of Hawaii and later owner/producer of Eniroth). George Roth had been instrumental in the building of the Ag-1, and he was an obvious influence in the Ag-2 design by George Wing’s team.
Construction of the first aircraft began in 1954 and the Transland Ag-2 made its first flight from Torrance as N8330H on 11 October 1956. At that stage, it was a single-seat aircraft powered by a 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-985. Between the engine and the cockpit was housed an integral hopper of 53 cubic feet intended for solid materials and carrying a load of 3,000 lbs in the restricted category. The length of the cropduster was 28 ft, 5 inches and its height 9 ft. 8 inches.
The centre wing was built in two sections fastened to the fuselage either side of the hopper. Each section incorporated two 62.5 US gallon tanks which were intended as spray tanks totalling 250 US gallons. The wing was extremely thick – some eighteen inches deep – which gave high lift but also high drag. The aerofoil, a modified NACA 64021 section, had an aspect ratio of around 21%. A single flap extended under the fuselage between both sections. The outer wing panels also incorporated a 62.5 US gallon tank intended for aircraft fuel. The ailerons ran the full length of these panels with a top side lifting flap, which presumably kept a clean airflow over the wing and ailerons. Aluminium wing tips gave a wing span of 42 ft and a wing area of 321.6 sq.ft.
While the test flying was done on the first aircraft, a second, N8331H, was built and fitted with a 600-hp P&W R-1340. The payload was increased from 2,000 lbs to 3,000 lbs, giving an all-up weight in the agricultural category of 7,700 lbs. The empty weight of the aircraft was 3468 lbs.
N8331H first flew from Torrance in June 1958. The first aircraft was also retrofitted with an R-1340 and the rear cockpit modified to carry a passenger. The then Civil Aero¬nautics Administration awarded Type Certificate #4A20 to Transland Aircraft for the Ag-2 on 24 June 1958.
In 1959, a third and final aircraft, N8232H, was built and operated in Panama.
The monocoque design of the Ag-2 didn’t fail, it was twenty years ahead of its time. In the 1950s and ‘60s, the Stearmans and the Naval Aircraft N3Ns were still the “big planes” of an operator’s fleet and were able to be obtained cheaply for US$5,000, as opposed to the Ag-2’s price tag of US$25,000.
With 577 hours on the clock, N8330H was sold to Charles Chalking in Uruguay in 1962. The aircraft was flown to the South American country, where it was registered CX-AYC in May 1962. Under the name of Azucarera del Litorial SA of Paysandu, it flew some 224 hours on sugar fertilizing until 31 December 1963, when it was placed in storage. The aircraft spent 28 years in storage before being sold to an operator at Triente y Tres. Flown again on 25 September 1991, the Ag-2 had clocked up another 290 hours by 23 February 1993 before it was parked up at the airfield at Triente y Tres for seven years. Around 2000 the wings were removed and stored in a shed, while the fuselage was pushed to the edge of the airfield where weeds began to incarcerate it. In April 2003 the aircraft arrived in New Zealand for restoration, with 1091.2 flying hours. At some early stage the inside of the hopper was lined with fibreglass.
Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-985, 450-hp Seats: 1 Length: 28 ft 5 in Height: 9 ft. 8 in Hopper cap: 53 cubic feet Load cap: 2,000 lbs Spary tank cap: 250 USG Fuel cap: 62.5 USG Wing span: 42 ft Wing area: 321.6 sq.ft
The Transland Company was formed in 1946, designing and manufacturing components for North American aircraft, including the T6 Texan, P-51 Mustang, F-86 Sabre and the F-100 Super Sabre. A Division of Hi-Shear Rivet Tool Company, in 1951, Transland began producing spreading equipment, hopper doors and spray gear for agricultural aircraft and among these products was the Sellers Swathmaster, widely used on Cessna 180 and 185 aircraft, as well as Fletcher FU-24s and Piper Cubs.
1946: Transland Co, Torrance CA. USA
Built Ag-1 agricultural research aircraft in about 1953, followed 1956 by Ag-2, using components from Vultee BT-13. Plans to build five Ag-2s in late 1950s thwarted.
1957: Transland Aircraft, div of Hi-Shear Rivet Tool Co (pres: George S Wing).
By 1962, George Wing had moved on to the development of John Thorp’s little twin, which eventually became the Wing Derringer, and a few years later Conrad Barlow took over the assets of Transland, renaming the company the Transland Corporation and moving it to Harbour City in California.
Plans to build Ag-2s revived in 1965, but still none produced.
The Transcendental Aircraft Corporation of Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania, was the first company to claim flying a successful Tilt Rotor aircraft. The Model 1-G was a small, high-wing experimental aircraft with a fuselage-mounted engine and fixed tricycle landing gear designed and built by Mario A. Guerierri. The single pilot sat forward of the wing in a semi-enclosed fuselage. The clear plastic nose gave the pilot helicopter-like visibility. A single Lycoming 0-290-A six cylinder engine produced 160 horsepower. The fuselage measured 7.9m long, and the aluminum wing measured 6.4m. The ailerons were fabric covered. Empty weight was 655kg and take-off weight was 790kg. The projected maximum speed in helicopter mode was 190km/h, and 260km/h in airplane mode.
A 5.2-meter diameter, three-bladed, fully articulated rotor was mounted at each wing tip. The rotor shafts tilted from pointing vertically for hover down to 6 degrees up from horizontal for forward flight. Electric motors controlled the tilt of the rotor shafts.
Interconnecting shafts ensured that both rotors maintained the same tilt angle. Each rotor was driven through a two-speed gearbox. This allowed the pilot to lower the rotor rotation speed for more efficient cruise in forward flight.
Although the Model 1-G was a private development, the Wright Air Development Center at Wright-Patterson AFB issued contracts to study many of the Tilt Rotor’s unique peculiarities.
The first was awarded in 1952 to investigate the dynamics and structural characteristics of the rotor system. The Air Force awarded a second contract in 1953 to investigate mechanical instability problems associated with tilting the rotors.
The first hover flight was either on June 15 or July 6, 1954 (references vary). The first forward flight in hover mode occurred on December 13, 1954, and the first forward flight with rotors tilted occurred only four days later. By April 1955, conversions with the rotors tilted up to 35 degrees from vertical were completed. Eventually, the Model 1-G completed numerous transitions up to 70 degrees of tilt with the wings sustaining over 90 percent of the weight.
The engine reduction was been replaced by a two-gear reduction box, at the exit of which a gearing system has been attached which enables the rotors to be put into auto-rotation. At the engine’s maximum output of 3000 r.p.m. the rotors rotate at 633 r.p.m. as airscrews, and at 240 r.p.m. as helicopter rotors.
Three concentric tubes start from the swivelling device, the first of which moves the rotor, the second controls cyclic variation and the third variation of collective pitch. The time needed to move from the helicopter to the aircraft position is roughly three minutes. In this change-over, the rotors swivel through an angle of 82 degrees.
The Model 1-G was destroyed during a test flight on July 20, 1955. After performing a virtually complete conversion, the friction lock on the collective pitch controller slipped, throwing the aircraft into an abrupt, steep dive. The pilot initiated a recovery, but there was not enough altitude to complete the pull-up before contacting the Delaware River. The aircraft flipped on its back, resulting in irreparable damage.
During the Model 1-G’s brief career, it made over 100 flights, achieved 90% conversion (about 70 degrees forward rotor tilt), and flew 60 hours. It demonstrated excellent controllability without vibration, and reached an altitude of 1060m and an airspeed of 185km/h in helicopter mode.
A second aircraft, called the Model 2, N546A, was to fly in late 1956. Transcendental received an Air Force contract in March 1956 and completed the Model 2 in October. Compared to the Model 1-G, it was stronger and more aerodynamic, but had the same basic configuration. The enclosed cockpit had side-by-side seating. Power was by one 250 horsepower Lycoming O-435-23 six cylinder engine. The wing was a 0.3m longer, but the fuselage was 1.2m shorter. Empty and gross weights were 708kg and 1015kg. Development ended when funding from Wright Air Development Center stopped. It could not be determined if the aircraft ever flew, and eventually it was dismantled.
Transcendental 2 N546A
The Model 3 of 1957 was also a convertible, and an extrapolation of Model 1G, it is intended to be powered by two gas turbines, and to accommodate a crew of two and also six passengers or alternatively four stretchers. It is expected that this model will have a cruising speed comparable to that of a traditional aircraft and also the special take-off and landing properties of a helicopter.
Model 1G Engine: 1 x Lycoming G0-290-A, 160hp Rotor diameter: 5.18m / 17 ft Width (rotor tip to rotor tip): 11.58m Rotors: 2 x 3-blade on outriggers Max rotor speed: 633rpm Wing span: 21 ft Length: 7.93m / 26′ 0″ Height: 2.13m Weight fully loaded: 794kg / 1,640 lb Empty weight: 658kg Maximum speed (as helicopter): 196km/h Maximum speed (as aircraft): 256km/h / 150 mph Absolute ceiling (as aircraft): 1525m Endurance: 90 minutes Seats: 1
1946: Transcendental Aircraft Corp founded by Mario A Guerrieri, Robert Lichten, former Piaseski personnel). Glen Riddle PA and New Castle DE. USA
Lichten had earlier worked for pioneer helicopter designers Dr Wynn Laurence LePage and Haviland Hull Platt, who initiated the study of a large tilt-rotor aircraft, an outgrowth of their XR-1 lateral twin-rotor helicopter.
1952: Sold interests to William E Cobey.
Lichten had moved to the Bell Helicopter Co seeking support of a major rotorcraft manufacturer in developing the tilt-rotor aircraft. He led the team that got Army and Air Force funding for the development of the XV-3.
c.1957: Holdings acquired by short-lived Helicopter Div, Republic Avn Corp, Farmingdale NY. USA
A Kellett Aircraft Co vibrations expert, William E Cobey, bought out Guerrieri and constructed the model 2, but continued funding could not be obtained—the government was by then backing the Bell XV-3—and the company ended operations in 1957.
Designed in Australia by Luigi Pellarini and first flown on 22 April 1965, as a liquid chemical sprayer, the Airtruk can carry up to 180 Imp gallons (818 litres) and can dispense chemical over a swath width of 100ft (30.2m). First powered by a 285 hp engine, later models were fitted with the 300 hp Continental IO-520-F. The PL-12 entered production by Transavia Corporation in Australia in 1966.
Around 120 were made in the 23 years from its first flight in April 1965. Transfield manufactured the wholly-Australian designed multi-purpose aircraft for over twenty years. Initially designed as a specialised agricultural aircraft, it was refined over the years and used for many purposes including military surveillance and medivac roles in the PL-12-U utility version.
The last planes built by Transfield were made up of spare parts from many of the 117 planes produced at the company’s Seven Hills, Australia, workshop. Many were exported to countries such as Denmark, Yugoslavia, Spain, Africa, China and New Zealand.
PL-12
Flight Engineers Ltd was a joint company formed by agricultural operator Barr Brothers and Marine Helicopters Ltd. to maintain own fleets, but also undertook license-assembly of Transavia PL-12 Airtruk agricultural aircraft from 1973.
The T-320 model were assembled in Auckland, New Zealand. They featured increased side and head room, electric flaps and new ailerons. T320 version powered by Continental Tiara engine introduced 1977. Production ended 1980.
Transavia PL12 Airtruk Engine: One 285HP Rolls Royce Continental IO-520-A Wing span: 12.15 metres (39 ft 10 in) Length: 6.35 metres (20 ft 10 in) Accommodation: One pilot – 2 pax Hopper capacity: 180 ImpGal / 818 lt
PL-12-U Engine: Continental IO-520-D, 300 hp Wingspan: 39 ft 10.5 in / 12.15 m Length: 20 ft 10 in / 6.35 m Empty weight: 1830 lb / 830 kg MTOW: 3800 lb / 1723 kg Max cruise 75% SL: 102 kt / 117 mph ROC: 800 fpm / 244 m/min Service ceiling: 10,500 ft / 3200 m Range max payload: 650 nm / 749 mi / 1203 km Crew: 1 Passengers: 1 on upper deck / 4 on lower deck Passenger cabin length: 9 ft 0 in / 2.74 m Passenger cabin width: 3 ft 2 in / 0.97 m Passenger cabin height: 8 ft 11 in / 2.11 m Passenger cabin volume: 74 cu.ft / 2.10 cu.m
PL 12 Engine: Continental IO 520 D, 300 hp Prop: 7 ft 4 in (2.23 m) dia 2 blade Wing span: 39 ft 10.5 in (12.15 m) Length: 21 ft 0in (6.40 m) Height: 2.79 m Wing area: 256 sq ft (23.79 sq.m) Gross weight: 4,090 lb (1,855 kg) Max cruising speed: 121 mph (195 kph) Maximum speed: 208 km/h Ceiling: 10,500 ft Max range: 380 miles (610 km) Accommodation: Crew of 1 and 2 pas¬sengers.
Established 1964 as division of Transfield Construction Pty Ltd, and first flew in 1965 original PL-12 Airtruk, twin-boom agricultural aircraft, put into production and service. Later developed into Skyfarmer T-300A.
