Page 25 - July 2015 Volume 9, Number 7

as he was known to his friends and colleagues, visited the Travel Air facility in mid- June. After five days of in- depth discussions with Walter Beech and other officials, it was decided that Mr. Goebel would get his Travel Air. To initiate construction, he signed a contract and plunked down the required deposit of $5,000. Despite a tight timeline for entering the race, Beech estimated the ship would be ready by early August.1
Goebel was one of two
applicants that succeeded in
convincing Beech to build
them an airplane. The other
was Benny H. Griffin and
Al Henley, who signed their
contract and another check
for $5,000 for a second Type
5000 late in June. Both of the airplanes would receive modifications to the airframe that centered chiefly on the installation of large fuel tanks holding more than 400 gallons of aviation gasoline. In addition, a larger oil tank was installed to keep the Wright J-5 static, air-cooled radial engine lubricated properly during the 2,400-mile flight. Both airplanes were further modified to accommodate a space for the navigator in the aft cabin amidst the extra fuel tanks. Travel Air’s chief engineer, Horace E. Weihmiller, supervised the alterations.
Goebel had originally planned to fly solo, but race rules required a navigator. Fortunately for Goebel, his friend and fellow pilot D.W. “Tommy” Tomlinson suggested Lieutenant William V. Davis for the job. A 1924 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Davis was trained in celestial and marine navigation and was familiar with the operation of radio equipment that Goebel planned to install in the Type 5000 before the race began. As for Griffin, he had an excellent navigator in Al Henley, who had accumulated 10 years of valuable flying and navigation experience in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
With both monoplanes under construction, the only question that remained unanswered was how to pay the $15,000 balance due upon completion of each ship. Griffin had obtained partial funding from four prominent businessmen in Oklahoma, but he also sought help from Frank Phillips, an oil magnate from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and president of the Phillips Petroleum Company. Similarly, Goebel had limited financial support from friends in California, but eventually he, too, turned to Frank Phillips for help. Phillips agreed to pay off both monoplanes with the stipulation that Art’s airplane carry the name “WOOLAROC” emblazoned on both sides of the fuselage. The name Woolaroc was an
JULY 2015
acronym for the topography of “woods, lakes and rocks” that dominated Phillips’ ranch near Bartlesville. Griffin’s Travel Air would be dubbed “OKLAHOMA,” also painted on the fuselage.
Travel Air assigned serial number 10 to the Oklahoma, but no official record exists regarding a factory serial number for the Woolaroc. Department of Commerce records state only that it was later assigned serial number 1000 by the Phillips Petroleum Company. The fuselage and wings of both airplanes were painted Travel Air blue and orange, respectively. On July 29, Griffin’s monoplane rolled out of Travel Air’s new factory on East Central Avenue, its
rudder bearing the registration NX911, followed on August 2 by Goebel’s ship registered NX869. Both monoplanes were test-flown by Clarence Clark and deemed ready for delivery. Soon after acceptance, both pilots flew their ships to Bartlesville so Frank Phillips could see what he had paid for, and then the two Travel Airs headed west to the jumping-off point at the airport in Oakland, California.
After arrival, Goebel’s airplane was fitted with the same radio set used by Maitland and Hegenberger on their flight to Hawaii. A few of the aircraft were equipped with earth inductor compasses and radio equipment that would help them make the dangerous journey across 2,400 miles of unforgiving Pacific Ocean, but others were hopelessly ill-equipped for such an arduous undertaking. As a result, some were disqualified, others withdrew and a few airplanes had been wrecked enroute to Oakland. Frank Phillips had shipped 20 barrels of the company’s recently-developed “Nu-Aviation” fuel to Oakland for the exclusive use of the two Travel Air entrants, and the gasoline was a closely guarded asset. When straws were drawn to determine the takeoff sequence, only eight airplanes remained in what had been dubbed the “Pineapple Derby” by the press. Benny Griffin won the first takeoff slot and Goebel drew the seventh spot.
On the morning of August 16, the “Oklahoma” was pushed to the starting line. When the starter’s flag dropped, Griffin gunned the 200-hp Wright radial powerplant and the heavily-laden monoplane slowly accelerated down the two-mile long dirt runway. After rolling about 3,000 feet, the ship lifted slowly into the air. The Dole race was finally underway. Thousands of spectators, some anticipating that one or more airplanes may crash on takeoff, watched as the “Oklahoma”
Art Goebel (right) and Frank Phillips celebrate their victory in the Dole Race at the Woolaroc ranch in Oklahoma. (COURTESY OF WOOLAROC MUSEUM)
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