In 1928 pilot Arthur Goebel attempted to transform the Travel Air Type 5000 “Woolaroc” from a mild-mannered monoplane into a high-speed, cross-country racer with near fatal results.
In the wake of Charles A. Lindbergh’s epic solo flight from New York to Paris in May 1927, Hawaiian pineapple king James Dole offered a $25,000 first prize for a nonstop flight from California to the Territory of Hawaii. The event was limited to commercial-built airplanes and was scheduled for August of that year. Of the eight entries, only two aircraft succeeded in flying the 2,400 miles from Oakland to Honolulu – the winner, a Travel Air Type 5000 monoplane named the “Woolaroc,” flown by Arthur C. Goebel and navigated by U.S. Navy Lieutenant William V. Davis and the Breese monoplane “Aloha” flown by Martin Jensen with navigator Paul Schluter (awarded $10,000 second place prize money).
Unfortunately, three of the five airplanes that managed to take off from Oakland disappeared over the vast Pacific Ocean, including the Swallow “Dallas Spirit,” the Lockheed “Golden Eagle” and the Buhl “Miss Doran.” The missing included six men and one young woman. At least 60 U.S. Navy and merchant ships searched the ocean for two weeks without result.
As for Art Goebel and his airplane, the Travel Air was disassembled and shipped back to California aboard the freighter “Monoa,” and soon after Goebel flew the ship on a victory tour of cities within the United States. In November, oil magnate and sponsor of both Travel Air ships in the Dole race, Frank Phillips, sought more publicity from Goebel’s victory. He also saw an opportunity to further advertise Phillips Petroleum’s “Nu-Aviation” fuel.
(Edward H. Phillips Collection)
Goebel proposed an idea that sounded good to Frank Phillips – a transcontinental speed dash using the “Woolaroc.” Art envisioned transforming the famous monoplane into a highly-modified speedster capable of setting a new coast-to-coast record. At that time, the record stood at 20 hours, 48 minutes, flown east-to-west by U.S. Army Lieutenant Russell Maughan in a Curtiss P-1 “Hawk” pursuit ship (1924).
Goebel tentatively planned to make the flight in November 1928 flying in an east-to-west direction. First, however, he had to convince Walter H. Beech and the Travel Air Company to tackle the task of making major alterations to the airframe and engine of the Type 5000. Beech’s initial reaction was one of deep skepticism – a viewpoint that was shared by chief designer Horace Weihmiller and his staff.
After further discussions, however, Beech agreed to make the modifications specified by Goebel, and in January 1928 the “Woolaroc” arrived at the Wichita factory and disappeared into the workshops. A small group of skilled craftsmen soon descended upon the blue and orange monoplane and during the next 10 months slowly began to incorporate the changes required by Goebel. He was hoping for a completion date of Nov. 20 – an ambitious goal given the amount of work required in addition to the crew’s obligations of day-to-day aircraft production at the factory.
The primary change to the airframe centered on removing the existing cockpit and controls and building a new cockpit and instrument panel in the center of the fuselage where Lt. Davis had sat during the Dole race. A complete set of “blind flying instruments” were installed to help Goebel maintain control of the airplane in clouds. Control cables for the ailerons, elevator and rudder, as well as throttle, mixture and spark advance/retard controls and new fuel selector valves, had to be rerouted and evaluated for safe operation.
The cockpit canopy was removed and the nose section covered with wood and fabric to present a smooth aerodynamic surface. Engineers stuffed fuel tanks into the empty cockpit and forward fuselage area, and additional tanks were installed in the wing panels, bringing the airplane’s total fuel capacity to six hundred gallons; more than enough, according to Goebel’s calculations, to make the coast-to-coast dash nonstop. The main landing gear was reinforced to withstand the weight of Nu-Aviation fuel and the heavier engine.
Because the cockpit was so far aft it was nearly impossible for Goebel to see ahead during takeoff and landing operations. The large wing and its supporting struts seriously reduced forward visibility, and this disadvantage was repeatedly explained to Goebel by the engineers, but he insisted that the aft cockpit location would be adequate. In an effort to improve visibility from the cockpit, a special seat arrangement was designed and installed that would allow the pilot to raise the seat high enough to see forward over the wing through a small hatch in the upper fuselage. Although engineers and Walter Beech were concerned that the cockpit arrangement was a bad idea, it met Art’s requirements and work continued at a leisurely pace as the months went by.
The second major change was installation of a nine-cylinder, Pratt & Whitney “Wasp,” a static, air-cooled radial engine in place of the “Woolaroc’s” original 200-horsepower, Wright Aeronautical J5 powerplant. The Wasp, rated at 400-horsepower, featured velocity exhaust stacks and turned an adjustable-pitch, two-blade propeller.
Finally, November 24 the ship was rolled out for initial engine testing and other preparations for first flight. Goebel inspected the airplane and approved of all the modifications that included reducing drag by slightly downsizing the main landing gear and streamlining wing struts. Art climbed aboard through the cabin door and started the Wasp. It quickly settled into a noisy idle as the “bayonet-type” exhaust stacks barked their load reports.
The first takeoff quickly proved how dangerous the aft cockpit position could be without raising the seat. Peering out of the large windows on each side of the cockpit, Goebel struggled to keep the ship pointed straight ahead until airborne. Visibility during the climb to altitude was nonexistent as Art tried to locate and fly loose formation with Walter Beech flying chase in a Type 4000 biplane.
Anxious to find out how fast the reborn “Woolaroc” could go, Art eased the throttle forward and checked the indicated airspeed when full power was applied – only 160 mph! Fast, but not fast enough to clinch a transcontinental speed record. Reducing power to the planned cruise setting of 1,900 RPM, Goebel was further disappointed to see an airspeed of only 135 mph. He knew the Travel Air needed to cruise at a minimum of 160 mph to have any chance of setting a record.
Returning to Travel Air Field, Goebel managed to line up the ship with the broad, grass-covered runway, but when he tried to land, he had his hands full of the wild, wandering “Woolaroc.” Art could not see forward, and as the airplane hit the runway hard and bounced back into the air, he fed in bursts of throttle in an attempt to keep the monoplane under control. Realizing that he was quickly running out of runway, he plopped the ship down, cut the throttle, rolled to a stop, and went to find Walter Beech. Based on Art’s recommendations, Beech ordered workers to enlarge the side windows and lower the seat position further, hoping a “quick fix” would suffice for Goebel to depart for New York City before sunset.
Undeterred, Goebel took off and headed east toward St. Louis, Missouri. In the gathering darkness he searched in vain for Scott Field where he hoped to pause for the night. Flying blind with near zero forward visibility, as darkness enveloped the airplane Art realized he was dealing with an airborne version of Russian roulette; he knew nothing of what lay ahead of him. Moments later he spotted lights at another airport and, despite having no landing lights in the dark of night, he landed safely but the “Woolaroc” struck a ditch that Art could not see. The airplane lurched one way then another before coming to an abrupt stop.
The landing gear on one side was damaged, but repairs were made and three days later he departed, not eastward toward New York but westward toward Travel Air Field. Flying at low altitude in a foggy mist on the west side of St. Louis, Art was terrified to see a water tower flash by the cockpit window only a few feet from the wingtip! For Goebel that near brush with certain death was the last straw. He bravely flew on, landing safely at Travel Air Field December 1.
Goebel confessed to Walter Beech that the airplane was not safe to fly, and that he had decided to make no further attempts to set a transcontinental speed record with the dangerous monoplane. In addition to Beech, Frank Phillips heartily agreed and immediately retired the ship. Realizing that the airplane was historically important, Phillips ordered that it be returned to its original configuration for the Dole race before placing on static display outside in an open pavilion at Frank Phillip’s ranch near Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where it remained for the next 55 years.
During the early 1980s the “Woolaroc” was restored a second time and in 1985 a special exhibit hall within the Frank Phillips Museum and Wildlife Reserve was created specifically for displaying the winner of the Dole competition. As of 2022 the Travel Air remains suspended from the ceiling on a magnetic heading toward Honolulu – a fitting tribute to a famous airplane, its pilot and navigator as well as the people and the company in Wichita that built it.