Travel Air 2000

2000, 3000, 4000, CW-14, Sportsman, Osprey
Travel Air 4000, at landing
Role biplane aircraft
Manufacturer Travel Air, Curtiss-Wright
Designer Lloyd Stearman
First flight 13 March 1925[1]
Introduction 1925
Primary user private owners, aerial sightseeing businesses
Produced 1925–1930
Number built approx 1,300[1]


The Travel Air 2000/3000/4000 (originally, the Model A, Model B and Model BH)[1] and later marketed as a Curtiss-Wright product under the names CW-14, Speedwing, Sportsman and Osprey), were aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s by the Travel Air Manufacturing Company. Travel Air produced more aircraft during the period from 1924-1929 than any other manufacturer.[2]

Design and development

The types shared a common structure of a conventional single-bay biplane with staggered wings braced by N-struts. The fuselage was of fabric-covered steel tube and included two open cockpits in tandem, the forward of which could carry two passengers side-by-side.

Like other aircraft in the Travel Air line, it was available with a variety of different, interchangeable wings, including a wing shorter and thinner than the rest known as the "Speedwing" designed, as the name suggests, for increased cruise speed. Travel Air entered a specially-modified Model 4000 (designated 4000-T) in the Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Competition of 1930, but it was disqualified.

Steam powered

In 1933 a Travel Air 2000 was modified by George and William Besler where the usual inline or radial gasoline piston engine was replaced by an oil-fired, reversible 90° angle V-twin angle-compound engine of their own design, which became the first fixed-wing airplane to successful fly using a steam engine of any type.[3][4] The Beslers are thought to have sold the plane to the Japanese in 1937.[5]

Curtiss-Wright production

Following Travel Air Manufacturing Company purchase in August 1929[6] by Curtiss-Wright, the Model 4000 continued in production into the early 1930s as the CW-14, and the range was expanded to include a military derivative dubbed the Osprey. This was fitted with bomb racks, a fixed, forward-firing machine gun, and a trainable tail gun. These aircraft were supplied to Bolivia and used during the Gran Chaco War, which eventually led to Curtiss-Wright's successful prosecution for supplying these aircraft in violation of a U.S. arms embargo.

Variants

Model B
Travel Air Model A fitted with a Wright J-6 piston engine.

Like other Travel Air aircraft, Model 4000 variants were distinguished by letters prefixed (or occasionally affixed) to the basic designation to denote different engine and wing fits. These letter codes included:

Travel Air 2000 with Curtiss OX-5 engine airworthy at the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum, Dauster Field, Creve Coeur, Missouri, in June 2006
Travel Air 3000
Travel Air 4000
Travel Air 4000 at Fantasy of Flight.
Travel Air E-4000
A
original wing with "elephant-ear" ailerons
A
Axelson engine
B
"standard wing" with Frise-type ailerons and three fuel tanks
C
Curtiss engine
D
"speedwing"
E
revised "standard wing" with a single fuel tank
K
Kinner engine
L
Lycoming engine
Travel Air 2000
first production model
SC-2000
powered by a 160-hp (119-kW) Curtiss C-6 engine
Travel Air 3000
powered by a 150-hp / 180-hp (112-kW / 134-kW) Hispano-Suiza Model A or Model engine.
A-4000
powered by a 150-hp (112-kW) Axelson engine
B-4000
powered by a 220-hp (164-kW) Wright J-5 engine
BC-4000
floatplane version
B9-4000
powered by a 300-hp (224-kW) Wright J-6-9 engine
C-4000
powered by a 170-hp (127-kW) Challenger engine
E-4000
powered by a 165-hp (123-kW) Wright J-6-5 engine
K-4000
powered by a 100-hp (75-kW) Kinner K5 engine
SBC-4000
floatplane version
W-4000
powered by 110-hp (82-kW) Warner Scarab engine

Curtiss-Wright models built

CW-14C Sportsman
Version with 185 hp (138 kW) Curtiss Challenger engine (1 built).[7]
CW-A14D Deluxe Sportsman
Three-seat version with 240 hp (180 kW) Wright J-6-7 engine and NACA cowling (5 built).[7]
CW-B14B Speedwing Deluxe
Version with 300 hp (220 kW) Wright J-6-9 engine (2 built).[7]
CW-B14R Special Speedwing Deluxe
Single-seat racer built for Casey Lambert with supercharged Wright R-975 engine (1 built)
CW-C14B Osprey
militarized version with Wright R-975E engine
CW-C14R Osprey
militarized version with Wright J-6-9 engine
CW-17R Pursuit Osprey
CW-B14B with uprated engine; possibly not built

Operators

Military operators

 Bolivia
20 purchased 1933–34.[8]
 Colombia
3 from 1932.[8]
 Ecuador
2 CW-14Rs purchased 1931.[8]
 Panama
2 acquired 1931.[8]
 El Salvador
3 from 1933.[8]
 Venezuela
3 CW-14Rs purchased 1932.[8]

Aircraft on display

Museum aircraft include:[9]

Survivors

An airworthy Travel Air 4000 resides in the collection of Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida. In 1997, this aircraft was used by the U.S. Postal Service to help commemorate the first day issue of a series of airplane stamps. With the local Postmaster on board, owner Kermit Weeks delivered the first ever airmail in the history of Polk City; probably the last as well.[10]

Specifications (CW-A14D)

Data from Specifications of American Airplanes[11]

General characteristics

Performance

See also


References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 Simpson 2007, p. 553
  2. ↑ Wings Over The Prairie, Ed Phillips, 1994
  3. ↑ "World's First Steam Driven Airplane" Popular Science, July 1933, detailed article with drawings
  4. ↑ George & William Besler (April 29, 2011). The Besler Steam Plane (YouTube). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw6NFmcnW-8: Bomberguy.
  5. ↑ Where have all the Dobles gone, The Steam Automobile, Vol 7 No 1, Spring 1965, page 23
  6. ↑ Simpson 2001, p. 553
  7. 1 2 3 Bowers 1979, p. 404.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hagedorn 1992, p. 72.
  9. ↑ Ogden 2007, p. 541
  10. ↑ Clark/Nikdel/Powell (2013-10-17). "1929 Travel Air 4000". Fantasy of Flight. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  11. ↑ Aviation March 1936, pp. 82–83.
Bibliography

Media related to Travel Air 2000 at Wikimedia Commons

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