Page 35 - Volume 13 Number 9

About four hours later with the bright morning sun lighting up the world in front of him, Goebel spotted what he thought was a cloud, but it did not move. Art realized it must be land, maybe the island of Maui. It was, and both men felt relieved that the Woolaroc was nearing its destination. Soon the Travel Air flew past Diamond Head and was met by a Boeing PW-9 pursuit (fighter) from Wheeler Field. The pilot tucked the biplane in close, holding up one finger and gesturing wildly. Initially, neither Goebel nor Davis understood what the signal meant, but when the PW-9’s pilot got even closer and they saw his smile, they realized they were first to make the crossing!
Guided by the pursuit ship, Goebel flew inland and landed at Wheeler Field, Territory of Hawaii, exactly 26 hours, 17 minutes, 33 seconds after departing Oakland. During the flight the Wright Whirlwind had consumed 317 gallons of fuel, and the Woolaroc had achieved an average ground speed of 93 mph. Spectators at Wheeler Field waited patiently to see if other airplanes would arrive. Two hours passed before the Aloha landed, nearly out of fuel, to win the $10,000 second prize money.
As time passed that day it became obvious that no other racers were going to arrive. The Golden Eagle and the Miss Doran were hopelessly overdue. Their fate remains unknown, but there is general agreement that sometime during the night vertigo may have overcome the pilots, neither of whom was trained to fly on instruments, leading to a death spiral into the ocean.
Sadly, lives were lost, but in the final analysis it can be stated that despite all of the bad press given the Dole Race, it was another step toward aviation progress. It was as equally legitimate as the Atlantic crossings and showed no worse a track record for the number of people killed.
As for the Dallas Spirit, Bill Erwin had lost his chance to win the Dole
SEPTEMBER 2019
Epilogue
After the Woolaroc’s victory in the Dole Air Race, the Travel Air disassembled and shipped it back to California aboard the steamship Monoa. Art Goebel flew the airplane to various cities as part of farewell flight commemorating the aerial journey to Hawaii and its potential to spur transpacific air transportation.
In October, Goebel flew the monoplane to Wichita where he was greeted by hundreds of people. On October 5 he laid the cornerstone for Travel Air’s new factory unit “B,” turned the first spade of dirt for Clyde V. Cessna’s factory, and dedicated the manufacturing and production facilities of Lloyd C. Stearman’s airplane factory north of the city.
Late in the next year, 1928, Goebel had the Woolaroc removed from temporary storage. It was flown to Wichita where Walter Beech and his engineers directed a series of major modifications in an attempt to turn the monoplane into a cross-country speedster. The Wright J5CA was replaced by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. rated at 400 horsepower, fuel tanks were added that increased capacity to 600 gallons, and the cockpit was relocated aft where the navigator’s station had been for the Dole Race. The airplane had a maximum speed of 160 mph – too slow to be a serious contender – and in 1929 the airplane was restored to Dole race configuration and placed on static display at the Frank Phillips Museum in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where it remained for decades. In the mid-1980s the airplane was fully restored and suspended from the ceiling in a special room dedicated to the race to Hawaii.
As for the Oklahoma, early in September 1927 Bennett Griffin flew the ship to Wichita where the original Wright Whirlwind was replaced with a new engine. In January 1928, Griffin contacted Walter Beech about modifying the airplane for an attempt to set a new endurance record. Fuel tanks were installed that held 525 gallons of fuel, and the ship was renamed Peerless Princess. The endurance attempt was not made, and by the early 1930s the aging Travel Air had disappeared from history. KA
Today the Woolaroc is displayed at the Frank Phillips Museum
in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on a compass heading to Hawaii. Art Goebel, William Davis, the Travel Air monoplane and the Dole race have been largely forgotten compared to the fame of Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis, but their achievement was no less significant. (Frank Phillips Museum)
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 33