The Travel Air 1000 was an American single-engined biplane, the first product of the newly formed

Travel Air Manufacturing Company The Travel Air Manufacturing Company was an aircraft manufacturer established in Wichita, Kansas, United States in January 1925 by Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman. History The company initially built a series of sporting and tr ...

of Wichita, Kansas. It led to a line of Travel Air biplanes produced until 1930 when the company was bought by

Curtiss-Wright The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States. Created in 1929 from the consolidation of Curtiss, Wright, and v ...

Design and development

The Travel Air Company was formed in early 1925. The Travel Air 1000 was the first design by the company. A conventional biplane with two open cockpits in tandem, with the pilot at the rear. It was powered by a

Curtiss OX-5 The Curtiss OX-5 was an early V-8 American liquid-cooled aircraft engine built by Curtiss. It was the first American-designed aircraft engine to enter mass production, although it was considered obsolete when it did so in 1917.Smith, 1981, pa ...

engine and had a

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

with a tailskid. The Travel Air 1000 registered ''NC241'' first flew on 13 March 1925 flown by

Walter Beech Walter Herschel Beech (January 30, 1891 – November 29, 1950) was an American aviator and early aviation entrepreneur who co-founded the Beech Aircraft Company (now called Beechcraft) in 1932 with his wife, Olive Ann Beech, and a team of three o ...

. With some minor changes it was developed into the

Travel Air 2000 The Travel Air 2000/3000/4000 (originally, the Model A, Model B and Model BH were open-cockpit biplane aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s by the Travel Air Manufacturing Company. During the period from 1924–1929, Tra ...

Aircraft on display

The Travel Air 1000 is owned by the

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...

and is on display at the

Beechcraft Heritage Museum The Beechcraft Heritage Museum is an aviation museum at the Tullahoma Regional Airport in Tullahoma, Tennessee. It is focused on the history of the Beech Aircraft Corporation. History The museum was founded by Carolyn and Richard Perry, Louise ...

Tullahoma, Tennessee Tullahoma is a city in Coffee and Franklin counties in southern Middle Tennessee, United States. The population was 20,339 at the 2020 census. In 2019, the population was estimated to be 19,555. It is the principal city of the Tullahoma micropol ...

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{Travel Air aircraft 1920s United States civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft 1000 Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1925