Page 28 - Volume 10 Number 9

located at the field. Truman also played an important role in helping to keep the Travel Air Type 5000 airline transports, operated by National Air Transport, flying on schedule.
Soon after Louise Thaden’s victory in the 1929 Women’s Air Derby held in August, the Travel Air Type D4000 biplane she flew was sold to a buyer on the East Coast. Mr. Beech ordered Truman to ferry the ship, but engine problems forced him to make a forced landing that resulted in the ship flipping onto its back. Damage was minimal, but repairs made what should have been a three-day flight into one that required 14 days to complete. Although Truman remembered that trip with regret, he had no regrets about the next major assignment he received from Mr. Beech.
In 1930, Walter tapped Truman to fly a factory-fresh Curtiss-Wright/Travel Air 6B Sedan in the sixth annual “National Air Tours for the Edsel B. Ford Reliability Trophy” (commonly called “the Ford Tour”). Walter Beech was counting on Truman to make Travel Air proud by scoring as many points as possible during the cross- country journey. Beech himself would be flying a Curtiss D-2 Kingbird twin-engine transport accompanied for part of the Tour by none other than his wife, Olive Ann Beech, and Curtiss-Wright salesman Owen G. Harned.
The route chosen for the 1930 event began at Dearborn, Michigan, and wound its way across much of vast western United States and north into Canada before returning to Dearborn – a total of more than 4,800 statute miles. At the end of the grueling 17-day aerial trek, Walter Beech placed sixth while Truman managed a respectable ninth- place finish. The two Curtiss-Wright pilots collected $1,000 and $400, respectfully, for their efforts.
By 1931, the deepening economic depression that gripped America had devastated the aviation industry, and the factories of Travel Air, Cessna Aircraft Company and the Stearman Aircraft Company were operating at a snail’s pace compared with the halcyon days of 1929. Despite the dark financial outlook, Walter Beech was an investor in Central Air College located at the East Central Flying Field. In 1929 the company built a massive, modern hangar across the field from the Travel Air factory complex, but by 1931 the business faced bankruptcy.
Eager to make their mark in Wichita aviation circles, Truman and Newman Wadlow approached Walter Beech about taking over the former school’s aircraft and facilities. They would call their new venture the “Wadlow Brother’s Flying Service,” but they needed a healthy infusion of cash to make their dream come true.
Truman Wadlow (far left) stands beside famed aviator and “speed demon” Frank M. Hawks and his wife during the grand opening of the Wadlow Brother’s Central Flying Service located on the east side of Travel Air Field. Walter and Olive Ann Beech (far right) not only encouraged the brothers to open their own flying operation, but helped them finance the venture. (EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION)
Beech had sufficient confidence in the two brothers to co-sign a note for $25,000, and within a few weeks they were in business. The Wadlows offered flight instruction as well as air taxi and charter flights, and their “air fleet” of six ships included Travel Airs, a Ryan Brougham, Curtiss-Wright Robin and other aircraft. One of the Travel Air cabin monoplanes had a history worth mentioning: Charles A. Lindbergh asked Walter Beech if he could use the airplane to fly to Mexico City, where he was courting Ann Morrow, daughter of United States Ambassador to Mexico, Dwight Morrow.
When Lindbergh returned the ship, the Wadlows found a way to capitalize on its brief association with Lindbergh and Ann Morrow. They named the monoplane “The Romancer” and emblazoned the tantalizing title on both sides of the fuselage. They advertised the
Truman (left) and Newman Wadlow operated the Central Flying Service during 1930 before the deepening economic depression clipped its wings in 1931.The airplane behind them is a Curtiss “Robin” monoplane powered by a Curtiss OX-5 engine. (EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION)
26 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER 2016