Travel Air 8000

Like other members of this family, the Model 8000 was an unequal-span, single-bay, staggered biplane of conventional design. The passengers and pilot sat in tandem, open cockpits. It had a conventional tail, and fixed, tailskid undercarriage. The fuselages were built from welded steel tubes, and the wings from wood.Phillips 1994, p.91–92 Travel Air model numbers primarily reflected changes in powerplant, and the Model 8000 was powered by a Fairchild-Caminez 447 radial engine mounted in the nose, driving a tractor propeller.Pelletier 1995, p.27–28

The prototype Model 8000 was a re-manufactured Travel Air Model B.Phillips 1994, p.106 Its engine was an innovative design that used a cam in place of a crankshaft.Juptner 1962, p.105"Fairchild Caminez 447-C, Radial 4 Engine, Cutaway" The result was an engine that was mechanically simpler and which ran at half the RPMs of a conventional radial engine for the same power, promising greater efficiency. The low RPMs needed a larger propeller, {{convert |10 |ft |m }} in diameter,Forden 1972, p.64 compared to the {{convert |8 |ft |4 |in |m |adj=on}} propeller of the Travel Air 2000.Phillips 1994, p.113 In turn, the larger propeller needed more ground clearance, which meant that the whole powerplant had to be mounted higher on the Model 8000's nose.

Despite much enthusiasm for the new engine among American manufacturers, it did not work well. It was prone to excessive vibration, even to the point of splitting propellers, it ran hot because the large propeller hubs needed to absorb its torque also blocked cooling air from the cylinders, and that torque also twisted airframes.

It proved very difficult for Fairchild-Caminez to get the engine operating reliably enough to pass certification. By the time this was achieved, in June 1928, the Model 8000 itself had already received type certificate ATC-37 in April. It would be the only aircraft type certified to use this engine.

Beside the prototype, only two other examples of the Model 8000 were built, and no details about them other than one construction number have been preserved.

The problems with the engine proved insurmountable, and development was abandoned in fall, 1928. It was withdrawn from sale, and Fairchild Aircraft founder Sherman Fairchild offered customers their money back.Forden 1972, p.65

By March 1929, the Fairchild-Caminez engine was removed from the prototype Model 8000 and the aircraft was converted into a Travel Air 2000.

Fairchild Aircraft purchased the prototype, and entered it in the 1928 Ford National Reliability Air Tour together with a Fairchild-Caminez 447-powered Waco 10.Forden 1972, pp.64,85 Flown by James Nelson Kelly, the Model 8000 finished in thirteenth placeJuptner 1962, p.106Forden 1972, pp.64,84 out of a field of twenty-five, requiring several engine changes.

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{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Bowers |first=Peter M. |title=Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947 |year=1979 |publisher=Putnam Aeronautical |location=London }}
• {{cite web |title=Fairchild Caminez 447-C, Radial 4 Engine, Cutaway |website=National Air and Space Museum |publisher=The Smithsonian Institution |location=Washington, D.C. |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/fairchild-caminez-447-c-radial-4-engine-cutaway/nasm_A19731576000 |date=n.d. |access-date=July 30, 2024 }}
• {{cite book |last=Forden |first=Lesley |title=The Ford Air Tours 1925–1931 |year=1972 |publisher=Aviation Foundation of America |location=New Brighton, Minnesota }}
• {{cite book |last=Juptner |first=Joseph P. |title=U.S. Civil Aircraft Vol. 1 (ATC 1-100) |year=1962 |publisher=Aero Publishers |location=Los Angeles }}
• {{cite book |last=Pelletier |first=Alain J. |title=Beech Aircraft and their Predecessors |year=1995 |publisher=Putnam Aeronautical |location=London }}
• {{cite book |last=Phillips |first=Edward H. |title=Travel Air: Wings over the Prairie |year=1994 |publisher=Flying Books International |location=Eagan, Minnesota }}
• {{cite book |last= Taylor |first= Michael J. H. |title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation |year=1993 |publisher=Studio Editions |location=London }}

{{Travel Air aircraft}}

{{Curtiss aircraft}}

Category:1920s United States civil utility aircraft

Category:Travel Air aircraft

Category:Biplanes

Category:Conventional-tail aircraft

Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1927