Page 27 - Volume 11 Number 11

continued to make suggestions to both Goebel and Griffin, some of which were accepted while others were rejected. By comparison, Goebel’s ship was a standard Type 5000 modified to accommodate additional fuel and oil tanks and a navigator’s station.
As both airplanes neared completion, Mr. Beech inquired as to when the money would arrive to pay off the balance owed, which amounted to about $15,000 for each aircraft. Until it was paid
the airplanes would not be delivered and that would prove disastrous for Goebel and Griffin, but business was business and Beech had no intention of relenting. He was taking a big risk building not one but two transports for the race, and his first obligation was to investors.
Fortunately for both pilots, they found an important ally and friend in Billy Parker. Only 28 years of age, Parker was a highly respected, no-nonsense aviator who had known Walter Beech for a long time. In years past, the two had often flown barnstorming tours together throughout the Midwest region. Billy also had an engineering background that helped him in his job developing aviation fuels for the Phillips Petroleum Company based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
His boss, oilman Frank Phillips, had introduced a new blend called Nu-Aviation gasoline that was in use by pilots and airlines across the United States. Parker had been busy evaluating the fuel using his Travel Air Type 4000 biplane when he met
NOVEMBER 2017
Bennett Griffin and Al Henley. They convinced Billy to approach Phillips about paying off the balance due for the Travel Air. After much discussion Phillips agreed and cut a check for $15,000. Shortly thereafter, Art Goebel sought the same backing from Phillips who paid off another Travel Air and suddenly had two airplanes in the dash to Hawaii.
After weeks of nearly around the clock shifts, Griffin and Henley’s monoplane was completed on July 29 and flown by Travel Air’s chief pilot, Clarence Clark. Emblazoned on each side of the fuselage in large letters was the name OKLAHOMA in honor of his financial backers. A few days later, Goebel’s ship emerged from the factory and carefully evaluated by Clark, who deemed both ships ready for delivery. Art’s transport was named
The Woolaroc was photographed after landing at Wheeler Field, Territory of Hawaii. Goebel and Davis had been in the air more than 23 hours since departing Oakland. The painted stripes on the horizontal stabilizer and elevators allowed Davis to give Goebel course corrections (based on wind drift) during daylight hours. (FRANK PHILLIPS MUSEUM)
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