Travel Air Type R Mystery Ship replica. The Type R "Mystery Ships" were a series of low-wing racing airplanes built from 1928
Image details
Contributor:
Avpics / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
FHAGF4File size:
71.9 MB (1 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
6159 x 4080 px | 52.1 x 34.5 cm | 20.5 x 13.6 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
23 May 2015Location:
Duxford, Cambs, UKMore information:
Travel Air Type R Mystery Ship The Type R "Mystery Ships" were a series of wire-braced, low-wing racing airplanes built by the Travel Air company in the late 1920s and early 1930s. They were so called, because the first three aircraft of the series (R614K, R613K, B11D) were built entirely in secrecy. In total, five Type Rs were built and flown by some of the most notable flyers of the day, including Jimmy Doolittle, Doug Davis, Frank Hawks, and Pancho Barnes, not only in races but also at air shows across the United States, and most notably, by Hawks in Europe. The environment in air racing at the time was one of give and take with the military. Since the military already had access to the fastest and most advanced aircraft available, it was simply a matter of upping the horsepower on whatever aircraft they were using.This led to the military completely dominating the air racing scene. In an effort to combat this, two Travel Air designers; Herb Rawdon and Walter Burnham undertook proving that a civilian aircraft built from scratch and designed exclusively for racing could out-fly the military. Built during 1928, the aircraft was kept under cover prior to the 1929 Cleveland Air Races, with the builders even going so far painting the windows on the factory to keep the curious press from getting a look at it.The paper dubbed it the "Mystery Ship" and the name stuck with R (for Rawdon) added. Rawdon and Burnham both knew that to approach Travel Air CEO Walter Beech would be fruitless, unless they hit him with the idea just before the air racing season began, so they designed the aircraft in their spare time, without pay until they could get Beech to agree to build the type. The first "Mystery Ship", NR614K (Race No. 31) flew in August 1929. The Model Rs set numerous speed records for both pylon racing and cross country flying and were the most advanced aircraft of the day, by far outpacing anything that even the military could offer. G-TATR owned by Richard Seeley