Travel Air 6000#Survivors
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
|name=Travel Air 6000 |image=Travel Air A-6000A Herrick 13.06.06r.jpg |caption=Travel Air A-6000-A preserved in flying condition carrying the logo of the 2003 National Air Tour }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type |type=Civil utility aircraft |manufacturer=Travel Air, Curtiss-Wright |designer=Herbert Rawdon |first flight=April 15, 1928 |introduced= |retired= |status= |primary user= |more users= |produced= |number built=ca. 150 |variants with their own articles= }} |
The Travel Air 6000 (later known as the Curtiss-Wright 6B when Travel Air was purchased by Curtiss-Wright) is a six-seat utility aircraft manufactured in the United States in the late 1920s.
Design and development
It was developed as a luxury version of the Travel Air 5000 marketed principally as an executive aircraft, although its size proved popular with regional airlines, which purchased most of the roughly 150 machines built.
The 6000 was a high-wing braced monoplane with a fuselage constructed of steel tube and covered in fabric. In keeping with its intended luxury market, the fully enclosed cabin was insulated and soundproofed, and included wind-down windows. The basic model was priced at $12,000, but numerous options were offered that could nearly double that price; actor Wallace Beery's aircraft cost him $20,000 and was the most expensive Model 6000 built.
Operational history
=Airline operation=
6000s were operated in 1928 by National Air Transport on their US mail and passenger routes from Chicago to New York, Chicago to Dallas and Chicago to Kansas City.Davies 1998, pp. 73–74.
=Business aircraft=
Frame number 6B-2012 was delivered to Harry Ogg of Newton, Iowa, on August 20, 1929, who used it as a mobile office and technology demonstrator for his Automatic Washing Machine Company, which eventually morphed into Maytag Corporation. The aircraft was significant in that it included space for a secretary and stenography machine, as well as hook-ups for up to 4 washing machines for demonstration purposes. The aircraft was nicknamed "Smiling Thru" and carried the registration of NC677K.Wings Over Kansas, The Saga of Smiling Thru, Edward Phillips, 18 February 2008 [http://www.wingsoverkansas.com/phillips/a885/]
=Foreign service=
Two Travel Air 6000 were purchased by the Paraguayan government during the Chaco War (1932-1935) for the Transport Squadron of its Air Arm. These aircraft belonged to TAT with the registrations NC624K (c/n 6B-2011) and NC9815 (c/n 6B-1029); They received the military serials T-2 and T-5 (later re-serialled as T-9). The aircraft were intensively used during the conflict as air ambulances. They both survived the war and continued flying in the Air Arm. In 1945, they were transferred to the first Paraguayan Airline, Líneas Aéreas de Transporte Nacional (LATN) and received the civil registrations ZP-SEC and ZP-SED. They were withdrawn from use in 1947.
=Exploration=
American aviator-explorer James "Jimmie" Crawford Angel (1899-1956) was flying a Travel Air 6000B, powered by a Curtiss-Wright J-6-9 engine, registration NC-431W, when he first sighted Angel Falls, Earth's tallest waterfall, Angel's Flight -The Life of Jimmie Angel - American Aviator-Explorer - Discoverer of Angel Falls by Karen Angel, 2019, p. 72, Jimmie Angel's pilot's logbook. 16 November 1933.
=Movie appearance=
A Travel Air 6000 was a "star" in the Howard Hawks 1939 film Only Angels Have Wings which was a fictional depiction of the early mail service in South America whose early days mirrored the aircraft and issues of US civilian mail service. Movie crash is a Hamilton Metal Plane
A Travel Air 6000 also appeared in the 1959 movie, "Edge of Eternity". Registration N377M is still active and it is owned and registered in Mount Pleasant, TX.
A Travel Air 6000 or Curtiss-Wright 6-B performed stunts in the 1939 Laurel & Hardy movie "The Flying Deuces".
Variants
- Model 6000 - six seat version, powered by a 220 hp (164 kW) Wright J-5 engine
- Model 6000A (or A-6000, or A-6000-A) - version powered by 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine
- Model SA-6000A - floatplane version of the Model 6000A
- Model 6000B (or B-6000, later 6B) - version powered by 300 hp (224 kW)Wright J-6-9 radial engine.
- Model S-6000-B - floatplane version of the Model 6000B
- Model 6B - 1931 and up Curtiss Wright production. Four built in Wichita, Four Built in San Diego.Skyways, January 2001, p. 62.
Operators
Surviving aircraft
- 839 – 6-B airworthy with Henry M. Galpin of Kalispell, Montana.{{cite web |title=FAA REGISTRY [N9038] |url=http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N9038 |website=Federal Aviation Administration |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |accessdate=5 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web |title=Travel Air, NC-9038, 1928, #4 6-B (6000) |url=http://www.nationalairtour.org/pilotplanespeople/aircraft_info.cfm?aircraft_id=7 |website=National Air Tour |publisher=Aviation Foundation of America, Inc. |accessdate=5 June 2018}}
- 865 – S-6000-B airworthy with Pole Pass Airways in Seattle, Washington.{{cite web |title=Kachemak Air Service Travel Air S6000B - NC9084 |url=http://www.alaskaseaplanes.com/NC9084.html |website=Alaska's Seaplanes |accessdate=5 June 2018}}{{cite web |title=Travel Air 6000B NC9084 Restoration 2002 |url=http://www.alaskaseaplanes.com/resto/index.htm |website=Alaska's Seaplanes |accessdate=5 June 2018}}{{cite web |title=FAA REGISTRY [N9084] |url=http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N9084 |website=Federal Aviation Administration |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |accessdate=4 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- 884 – 6-B airworthy with Mid American Flight Museum Mt. Pleasant Texas.{{cite web |title=FAA REGISTRY [N8112] |url=http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N8112 |website=Federal Aviation Administration |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |accessdate=5 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- 967 – S-6000-B on static display at the Alaska Aviation Museum in Anchorage, Alaska.{{cite web |title=1929 TRAVEL AIR S6000B |url=http://www.alaskaairmuseum.org/explore/exhibits/1929-travel-air-s6000b |website=Alaska Aviation Museum |accessdate=5 June 2018 |archive-date=22 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922034246/http://www.alaskaairmuseum.org/explore/exhibits/1929-travel-air-s6000b/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=Flightline - Main Hangar |url=http://alaskaairmuseum.org/flightline/hangar_main.php |website=Alaska Aviation Museum |accessdate=5 June 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819024540/http://alaskaairmuseum.org/flightline/hangar_main.php |archivedate=19 August 2013}}
- 986 – S-6000-B airworthy with Hellgate Equipment in Drummond, Montana.{{cite web |title=FAA REGISTRY [N8865] |url=http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N8865 |website=Federal Aviation Administration |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |accessdate=4 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- 1036 – S-6000-B registered to Philip L. Taylor of Seattle, Washington.{{cite web |title=FAA REGISTRY [N9842] |url=http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N9842 |website=Federal Aviation Administration |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |accessdate=5 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- 1099 – SA-6000-A airworthy with Robert W. Everts of Fairbanks, Alaska.{{cite web |title=FAA REGISTRY [N9966] |url=http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N9966 |website=Federal Aviation Administration |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |accessdate=4 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- A6A-2003 – A-6000-A airworthy with Yellowstone Aviation in Jackson, Wyoming.{{cite web |title=Travel Air, NC-377M, 1929 #24 6000 |url=http://www.nationalairtour.org/pilotplanespeople/aircraft_info.cfm?aircraft_id=18 |website=National Air Tour |publisher=Aviation Foundation of America, Inc. |accessdate=5 June 2018}}{{cite web |title=1929 Travel Air 6000 A |url=http://www.platinumfighters.com/travelair6000a |website=Platinum Fighter Sales |accessdate=5 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web |title=FAA REGISTRY [N377M] |url=http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N377M |website=Federal Aviation Administration |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |accessdate=5 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- 6B-2005 – S-6000-B registered to Heritage Aircraft in Portland, Oregon.{{cite web |title=FAA REGISTRY [N627H] |url=http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N627H |website=Federal Aviation Administration |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |accessdate=5 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- 6B-2024 – S-6000-B registered to Richard Livingston of Hamilton, Montana.{{cite web |title=FAA REGISTRY [N411N] |url=http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N411N |website=Federal Aviation Administration |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |accessdate=4 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- 6B-2040 – 6-B airworthy at the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta, Georgia.{{cite web |title=Delta Air Service Travel Air 6B Sedan |url=http://www.deltamuseum.org/exhibits/exhibits/aircraft/travel-air-6b-sedan |website=Delta Flight Museum |accessdate=5 June 2018}}{{cite web |title=FAA REGISTRY [N8878] |url=http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N8878 |website=Federal Aviation Administration |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |accessdate=5 June 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Specifications (6000B)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Beech Aircraft and their PredecessorsPelettier 1995, pp. 41–42.
|prime units?=imp
|crew=1
|capacity=5 passengers
|length ft=31
|length in=2
|length note=
|span ft=48
|span in=6+1/2
|span sigfig=4
|span note=
|height ft=9
|height in=0+1/2
|height sigfig=3
|height note=
|wing area sqft=282
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=
|airfoil= Clark Y (15%){{cite web |last1=Lednicer |first1=David |title=The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |url=https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/aircraft.html |website=m-selig.ae.illinois.edu |accessdate=16 April 2019}}
|empty weight lb=2700
|empty weight note=
|gross weight lb=4230
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind
|eng1 type=9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine
|eng1 hp=300
|prop blade number=
|prop name=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop dia note=
|max speed mph=130
|max speed note=at sea level
|cruise speed mph=110
|cruise speed note=
|stall speed mph=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed note=
|range miles=550
|range note=
|combat range miles=
|combat range note=
|ferry range miles=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=
|ceiling ft=16000
|ceiling note=
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|climb rate ftmin=800
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|wing loading note=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
|power/mass=
|more performance=
}}
References
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{commonscat}}
Bibliography
- Auliard, Gilles. "Time Machine." Air Classics, April 2006.
- Davies, R.E.G. Airlines of the United States since 1914. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998. {{ISBN|1-888962-08-9}}.
- Hagedorn, Dan and Antonio Luis Sapienza. Aircraft of the Chaco War, 1928-1935. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Co., 1996.
- Pelletier, A. J. Beech Aircraft and their Predecessors. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. {{ISBN|1-55750-062-2}}.
- {{cite journal |last1=Sapienza|first1=Antonio Luis|title=Les premiers avions de transport commercial au Paraguay|journal=Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire |date=June 2000|issue=87 |pages=45–47 |trans-title=The First Commercial Transport Aircraft in Paraguay|language=fr |issn=1243-8650}}
- Taylor, Michael J. H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989.
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{{Travel Air aircraft}}
{{Curtiss-Wright aircraft}}
Category:1920s United States civil utility aircraft
Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft