Page 17 - May 25

In 1928, the Travel Air Manufacturing Company introduced a series of enclosed cabin
monoplanes aimed specifically at the emerging business aviation marketplace.
by Edward H. Phillips
flight of Charles A. Lindbergh
It is safe to state that the nonstop
from Roosevelt Field, Long
Island, New York, to Le Bourget
Airport, Paris, France, in May 1927
ignited a massive wave of interest in
the benefits of aviation. America’s
surge of enthusiasm for flying was
shared by many corporations, whose
historically ground-bound executives
began to realize the advantages of
owning and operating a business
airplane.
The Travel Air Manufacturing
Company was founded late in 1924 in
Wichita, Kansas, by local businessman
Walter Innes, Jr., aviation pioneer
Clyde V. Cessna, pilots Lloyd C.
Stearman and Walter H. Beech. Lloyd
left the company in 1926 to found
the Stearman Aircraft Company in
California, and in January 1927 Clyde
resigned to form the Cessna Aircraft
Company, leaving Walter in charge of
Travel Air.
The S6000B and SA6000A were certified
for operation on floats. Robert S. Fogg
(center) operated an S6000B in Concord,
New Hampshire, for charter, air taxi and
transporting fishing and hunting parties
into the hinterlands. Fogg was a close
friend of Walter Beech and a longtime
Travel Air customer.
MAY 2025 KING AIR MAGAZINE •
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