Travel Air 6000

Travel Air 6000
Travel Air A-6000A preserved in flying condition wearing the 1928 markings of National Air Transport Inc
Role	Civil utility aircraft
Manufacturer	Travel Air, Curtiss-Wright
Designer	Herbert Rawdon
First flight	April 15, 1928
Number built	ca. 150

The Travel Air 6000 (later known as the Curtiss-Wright 6B when Travel Air was purchased by Curtiss-Wright) was a six-seat utility aircraft manufactured in the United States in the late 1920s.

Design and development

It was developed as a luxury version of the Travel Air 5000 marketed principally as an executive aircraft, although its size proved popular with regional airlines, which purchased most of the roughly 150 machines built.

The 6000 was a high-wing braced monoplane with a fuselage constructed of steel tube and covered in fabric. In keeping with its intended luxury market, the fully enclosed cabin was insulated and soundproofed, and included wind-down windows. The basic model was priced at $12,000, but numerous options were offered that could nearly double that price; actor Wallace Beery's aircraft cost him $20,000 and was the most expensive Model 6000 built.

Operational history

Airline operation

6000s were operated in 1928 by National Air Transport on their US mail and passenger routes from Chicago to New York, Chicago to Dallas and Chicago to Kansas City.^[1]

Foreign service

Two Travel Air 6000 were purchased by the Paraguayan government during the Chaco War (1932-1935) for the Transport Squadron of its Air Arm. These aircraft belonged to TAT with the registrations NC624K (c/n 6B-2011) and NC9815 (c/n 6B-1029); They received the military serials T-2 and T-5 (later re-serialled as T-9). The aircraft were intensively used during the conflict as air ambulances. They both survived the war and continued flying in the Air Arm. In 1945, they were transferred to the first Paraguayan Airline, Líneas Aéreas de Transporte Nacional (LATN) and received the civil registrations ZP-SEC and ZP-SED. They were withdrawn from use in 1947.

Survivors

In 2006, eight examples remained on the US civil register, with perhaps half of them actually flying.

Variants

• Model 6000 - six seat version, powered by a 220 hp (164 kW) Wright J-5 engine
• Model 6000A (or A-6000) - version powered by 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine
• SA-6000A - floatplane version of the Model 6000A
• Model 6000B (or B-6000, later 6B) - version powered by 300 hp (224 kW)Wright J-6-9 radial engine.
• S-6000-B - floatplane version of the Model 6000B

Operators

 Paraguay

• Paraguayan Air Force
• LAIN

 United States

• Delta Air Lines^[2]

Specifications (6000B)

General characteristics

• Crew: One pilot
• Capacity: 5 passengers
• Length: 30 ft 10 in (9.40 m)
• Wingspan: 48 ft 7 in (14.81 m)
• Wing area: 282 ft² (26.2 m²)
• Empty weight: 2,608 lb (1,183 kg)
• Gross weight: 4,230 lb (1,919 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Wright J-6-9, 300 hp (224 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 130 mph (209 km/h)
• Range: 550 miles (885 km)
• Service ceiling: 16,000 ft (4,880 m)
• Rate of climb: 800 ft/min (4.1 m/s)

References

Notes

1. ^ Davies 1998, pp. 73-74.
2. ^ http://www.deltamuseum.org/M_Education_DeltaHistory_Aircraft_TravelAir_S-6000-B.htm

Bibliography

• Auliard, Gilles. "Time Machine." Air Classics, April 2006.
• Davies, R.E.G. Airlines of the United States since 1914. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998. ISBN 1-888962-08-9.
• Hagedorn, Dan and Antonio Luis Sapienza. Aircraft of the Chaco War, 1928-1935. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Co., 1996.
• Taylor, Michael J. H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989.

External links

• airminded.net
• aviation-history.com