Restorers and owners of Travel Air aircraft were invited to fly to Wichita, Kansas, to honor the 100th anniversary of Travel Air Airplane Manufacturing Company, which built nearly 1,500 aircraft in the city from 1925 to 1931. After their time at Travel Air, pioneering leaders Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman went on to birth three companies: Beech Aircraft Company, Cessna Aircraft Company and Stearman Aircraft Company.
Homecoming organizer Jerry Impellezzeri, who formed the Travel Air Restorers Association type club in the early 1980s, reported that 14 aircraft flew in for at least part of the weekend activities July 10-13. This was the most Travel Air aircraft gathered in one location since the 1930s, he said. There are nearly 125 Travel Airs currently on the FAA registry and an estimated 65 still flying.
Here’s a look at four of the nearly century-old aircraft that made a public appearance July 12 at Wichita’s Colonel James Jabara Airport (KAAO).
