Page 24 - Volume 14 Number 8

IN HISTORY
In 1925, its first year in business, the Wichita, Kansas- based company sold 19 airplanes and held orders for more as 1926 dawned. To increase production, Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and the board of directors relocated manufacturing to West Douglas Avenue where 30 employees struggled to keep pace with growing demand for Travel Air airplanes.
Development of the Type “BH” began with the Type “BW” that was introduced in March 1926. The latter was powered by the new, nine-cylinder Wright J-4B static, air-cooled radial engine rated at 200 horsepower. The engine was manufactured by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation and cost nearly $6,000 – nearly double the price of a factory-fresh OX-5-powered biplane – the company’s “bread and butter” and bestselling model. A local Wichita oilman named W.B. “Skipper” Howe plunked down his money for a J-4-powered ship that would cost him a whopping $9,800 when delivered.
The Type BW first flew in March with Beech at the controls. According to Bob Phelps, one of the Travel Air’s original employees and an eyewitness to the flight,
Walter flew around the airfield and made a low pass in front of the small group of spectators. After landing he reported that the ship was nose heavy and needed changes to the wing rigging. Phelps, assisted by engineer Lloyd Carlton Stearman, discussed the situation and concluded that the stagger needed to be changed by one degree. Beech took off again and flew past the crowd, this time holding both his arms up in the air as the biplane flew straight and level.
The first Travel Air to boast a Hisso powerplant was the Type “CW” cabin biplane designed by Stearman, Beech and Cessna along with engineer Herbert Rawdon. The ship was the largest yet built by the company, with a one-piece upper wing panel that spanned nearly 42 feet. The cabin could accommodate four people but the pilot sat outside where he could listen to the “wind in the wires.” The customer, brothers Joseph and Wilford Gerbracht of the Gerbracht Aeronautic Corporation based in Ames, Iowa, christened the ship Pegasus (other sources report it was dubbed The Golden Pegasus). They operated the airplane for charter, air taxi and delivering newsreels to movie theaters.
22 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
AUGUST 2020