Page 31 - Volume 10 Number 11

for a suitable engine continued, Beech quickly wrapped the program in a cloak of secrecy that became so tight that only a handful of essential people knew what was actually going on behind the scenes.
In May, two key developments occurred that would profoundly affect the racer project. First, Beech had talked with Guy Vaughn, vice president of the Wright Aeronautical Corporation, about providing a more powerful, high-compression version of its R-975 Whirlwind radial engine for a special application. Vaughn agreed, and Walter dispatched Rawdon to Wright Aeronautical’s manufacturing facilities in Paterson, New Jersey, to discuss modifications to the nine-cylinder powerplant. By changing the supercharger ratio to 10.15:1 and increasing compression ratio to 6.5:1 from 5:1, engineers assured Rawdon that the engine would produce 425 horsepower at 2,500 RPM. It was more power than Herb had dreamed of, but it would come in the form of a bulky, 580-pound radial whose large frontal area presented installation and drag reduction issues he never expected to encounter.
Only 10 weeks remained before the NAR. As materials and component parts began to trickle into the Travel Air factory, Beech selected a secluded corner area of Building C to build Herb Rawdon’s racer, now officially designated as the Type “R” monoplane. To keep prying eyes from seeing inside the construction zone, it was enclosed with thick
canvas tarpaulins and windows
in the walls were frosted. Access
to the shop floor was guarded and
overall security was maintained at
a high level. Early in July, a hand-
picked group of 25 workers began
building not one, but three racers.
Beech had ordered construction
of a second racer powered by a
Chevolair D-6 in-line engine rated
at 250 horsepower, as well as a
small biplane fitted with “speed
wings” and powered by a Wright
J6-7 radial engine.
It was not long before word leaked out to local newspapers that Travel Air was “up to something big” at the factory on East Central Avenue, five miles from downtown Wichita. Reporters hounded the front office for information. They stood on tall ladders in an attempt to see inside Building C but were thwarted by the frosted glass. The Wichita Eagle finally concluded that Walter Beech was building a “mystery ship” and those words soon became the unofficial moniker of the airplane (a moniker that persists to this day).
NOVEMBER 2016
Nor was any information forthcoming inside the factory, as exemplified in the August issue of Travel Air Currents, a company publication distributed only to employees and customers: “Funny business is going on around the engineering and experimental departments. Mysterious packages and boxes are being delivered at odd hours, and groups of engineers and workers can be seen huddled here and there holding “skull practice” and immediately dispersing upon the approach of an outsider.”
Throughout the hot, humid Kansas summer the team of skilled craftsmen worked long, hard hours to complete Herb Rawdon’s racer, and by mid-August the first Type R, registered R614K, was being prepared for its maiden flight. The engine’s NACA cowling, however, was still in fabrication but the decision was made to proceed with the first flight and install the cowling later. After a series of engine runs to check operation of the oil, fuel and ignition systems, company test pilot Clarence E. Clark donned his parachute, leather flying helmet and goggles. He lowered himself slowly into the cramped cockpit, adjusted the seat and checked flight and engine controls for proper movement. Mechanics were standing by with fire extinguishers, and Herb Rawdon himself pulled the propeller through a few times to prime the engine for starting. Clarence hollered “Contact,” and the propeller swung around once again. The R-975 coughed once, then twice before rumbling to life and
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KING AIR MAGAZINE • 29