Page 24 - July 2015 Volume 9, Number 7

Walter Beech and the “Pineapple Derby”
Three months after “Lucky Lindy” landed in Paris, eight airplanes took off from California westbound toward Hawaii in a free-for-all race to win $25,000. Two of those airplanes were built by Travel Air, thanks to company
CEO Walter Beech’s optimism that at least one would win the prize.
by Edward H. Phillips
Hawaii – sun, surf and hula girls. Although known as the Territory of Hawaii in 1927, the four scenic islands 2,400 miles from the West Coast were becoming increasingly popular as America’s new-found playground. Only four days after airmail pilot Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Ryan “NYP” in Paris on May 21 of that year, Hawaiian pineapple entrepreneur James Dole offered the stunning sum of $25,000 to the first commercial airplane to fly nonstop from the mainland to the U.S. Army’s Wheeler Field near Honolulu. The second place winner would receive $10,000. The offer, however, was valid for only one year from the starting date of August 12.
Prior to Dole issuing his challenge, however, two airplanes and their brave crews already had made successful flights from California. The first was the Army’s Atlantic C-2 monoplane flown by Lieutenants Lester Maitland and Albert Hegenberger. They departed California on June 28 and landed at Wheeler the next day. The second ship to make the crossing was the first Travel Air Type 5000 monoplane built. It was piloted by Ernest Smith accompanied by navigator Emory Bronte. The aviators took off from Oakland, California, on July 14 and crash-landed the City of Oakland in some trees on the island of Molokai the following day. Although they were the first civilian airmen to span the vast waters
between California and Hawaii, their trusty Travel Air and its Wright Whirlwind static, air-cooled radial engine were badly damaged almost to the point of being beyond economical repair.
In the wake of Dole’s announcement, Walter Beech and the Travel Air Manufacturing Company received 17 requests for custom-built airplanes to compete in the race. During the summer of 1927, the factory was humming with activity as workers struggled to build airplanes already on order by other customers. President Beech, along with the board of directors, sifted carefully through the mountain of requests for a racing Travel Air. A majority of the applicants were quickly dismissed because of their obvious inability to pay or distinct lack of flying experience for such a risky endeavor.
Among the serious contenders, however, was one Arthur C. Goebel, a California-based pilot employed by National Pictures, Inc. The 31-year old aviator had learned to fly in 1920 at the famous Clover Field in Santa Monica and had earned an excellent reputation as a competent and savvy pilot. After being seduced by “race fever,” he had been busy evaluating various aircraft that were potentially suitable for the contest, but he eventually decided that the Type 5000 Travel Air Transport monoplane was the best candidate. “Art,”
The race-winning “Woolaroc” was photographed at Bartlesville, Okla., after returning to the United States from Oahu by ship. (COURTESY OF WOOLAROC MUSEUM)
22 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JULY 2015