Page 25 - Volume 14 Number 8

Front view of a Wright Hispano-Suiza engine reveals carburetor and intake manifold between the cylinder banks. In May 1917, the Wright-Martin Corporation was selected to build 1,000 of the 150-horsepower engines. (Manufacturers Aircraft Association)
The next application of the Hispano-Suiza engine came about in preparation for the 1926 Ford Tour (officially known as the “National Air Tour for the Edsel B. Ford Reliability Trophy”).1
Lloyd Stearman and Herbert Rawdon modified the standard airframe of the Type BW to accept the 180-horsepower version of the Hisso, thereby creating the Type BH. The airplane was one of several Travel Air biplanes that took part in the Ford Tour, including a Type BW owned by the Pioneer Instrument Company. Flown by Walter Beech and navigated by Brice Goldsborough, the BH won the Ford Tour, according to Beech, largely because Goldsborough’s navigational skills.
Travel Air test pilot Clarence Clark flew the Type BW during the two-week tour that covered a large swath of the Midwestern United States, including Kansas. As was the Type BH flown by Beech, Clark’s Type BW was equipped with mechanical brakes designed by Travel Air engineers. The brakes helped Walter place first and Clark second in a number of events held at airports along the Tour’s route.
AUGUST 2020
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 23