Page 29 - July 2015 Volume 9, Number 7

“The two men climbed down, monoplane was flown by Clarence
their legs a little wobbly, their voices sounding strange, both of them not quite willing to believe they won until they looked around to be sure none of the other airplanes were there. They stood for a moment, hemmed in by the crowd, both Goebel and Davis repeating foolishly, “Oh boy! We did it! We did it!”4 The cheering throngs crowded around the men and their Travel Air as the Wheeler Field band played military marches, then the exhausted duo was led to a flag-draped platform and formally greeted by none other than James Dole himself, along with Hawaii Governor Farrington and members of the race committee. Goebel and Davis each received $7,500 and financial supporters of the Woolaroc claimed the remaining $10,000 of the first-place prize money.
The faithful Travel Air monoplane and its trusty Wright J-5CA engine were eventually shipped back to the California on board the steamship “Monoa.” In the autumn of 1927, the now-famous Travel Air was reassembled, inspected and checked before being flown by Goebel on a farewell tour of selected cities. In October, Art flew the airplane back to Wichita and was welcomed enthusiastically by large crowds. During his visit, he laid the cornerstone for Factory “B” of the expanding Travel Air factory complex, turned the first spade of dirt for Clyde V. Cessna’s new factory across town on Franklin Avenue, and helped dedicate Lloyd C. Stearman’s manufacturing facility north of the city. Reflecting on the Dole Race and the role Travel Air had played in that contest, Walter H. Beech recalled that back in June he was surprised that a young Arthur Goebel declined to choose paint colors for the Woolaroc – he simply left it up to Mr. Beech.
After completing the farewell tour, the ship was in dire need of a complete overhaul in preparation for Art’s proposed attempt to set an endurance record with the airplane. That idea, however, was soon dis- missed and in February 1928 the
JULY 2015
Clark to Arkansas City, Kansas, where it was placed in temporary storage. It remained there until August when Goebel resurrected the ship from its seven-month slumber and flew it back to California. It was placed on static display in Los Angeles while Art was setting a west- east transcontinental record of 18 hours, 58 minutes flying a sleek Lockheed “Vega” monoplane. Frank Phillips, however, informed Goebel that he wanted the Dole race winner to garner more publicity for Phillips Petroleum Company, and one way Art thought he could comply was by transforming the airplane into a “slicked-up speedster.”
When he approached Walter Beech about Travel Air performing the modifications, Beech and his engineering staff were less than enthusiastic but agreed to tackle the task. They made it clear to Art that the monoplane was designed as a transport and was inherently unsuitable for modification into a “hot” ship. Goebel was unconvinced, and early in November he flew the ship from Los Angeles to Wichita where it underwent a series of major alterations that Goebel hoped would make it the fastest Type 5000 ever built. He planned to enter it in cross-country races that would prove highly lucrative if he could win, and the key to winning was speed. To reduce drag, workers in the experimental shop dismantled the cockpit entirely, removing the canopy, pilot seat, rudder pedals, instrument panel and all flight control cables. Fuel tanks were installed in the cockpit area that, when added to the existing tanks, provided a total capacity of 600 gallons. The navigator compartment where Davis had skillfully guided the ship across 2,400 miles of unforgiving ocean was transformed into a cramped cockpit. To power the born-again Travel Air, a 400-hp Pratt & Whitney “Wasp” static, air-cooled radial engine was installed, fitted with “bayonet-type” exhaust stacks that were thought to generate a very slight thrust when the engine was at full power.
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