Page 24 - January 2022

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
by Edward H. Phillips
Arthur C. Goebel was a well-known pilot in California who often flew “stunts” for Hollywood moviemaker National Pictures, Inc., and other studios in addition to operating a flight school at Clover Field near Santa Monica. (Edward H. Phillips Collection)
IN HISTORY
Goebel’s Deadly Gamble
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.
Goebel proposed an idea that sounded good to Frank Phillips – a transcontinental speed dash using the “Woolaroc.” Art envisioned transforming the famous
22 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JANUARY 2022