Travel Air 4000


The Travel Air 4000 is an American general-purpose biplane of the 1920s, a member of the family of aircraft that began with the Travel Air Model A. It was later known as the Model 4. Derived from the Model BW, around 100 were built, including two that were converted from Model 2000s.

Design and development

Like other members of this family, the Model 4000 is an unequal-span, single-bay, staggered biplane of conventional design. The passengers and pilot sit in tandem, open cockpits. It has a conventional tail, and fixed, tailskid undercarriage. The fuselage is built from welded steel tubes, and the wings from wood. Travel Air model numbers primarily reflected changes in powerplant, and the Model 4000 was originally powered by a Wright J-5 or J-4 radial engine mounted in the nose, driving a tractor propeller. From late 1928 onwards, however, the Model 4000 and Model 4 designations were applied to aircraft powered by a wide variety of other air-cooled radial engines.
Travel Air built fourteen Model 4000s in 1927, and the design received type certificate ATC-32 in April 1928. Most Model BWs were registered under the same type certificate.
Starting with the Model B-4000, some variants had a new "outrigger" style undercarriage, where oleo struts were attached outboard of the main undercarriage units, connected to struts forward of the lower wing.
Model 4000 variants are distinguished by changes in their wing type and powerplant, although other characteristics such as undercarriage changes or roles such as mailplane or aerial spraying are sometimes also reflected in the model numbers.
The wing types are as follows:
Wing typeAirfoilDescriptionYear introduced
Type ATravel Air #1Aerodynamically balanced ailerons, no fuel tank1925
Type ETravel Air #1Frise ailerons, no fuel tanks1927
Type BTravel Air #1Frise ailerons, fuel tanks1929
SpeedwingDifferent, thinner wingFrise ailerons, greater structural strength1929

Operational history

Apart from its use in general avaiation, the Model 4000 was flown competitively. Louise Thaden flew a D-4000 to win the inaugural Women's Air Derby at the 1929 National Air Races.
They were also used for film work. D-4000s represented World War I Nieuport fighters in The Dawn Patrol, Hell's Angels, and Young Eagles.

Variants

;Model 4000
;Model A-4000
;Model B-4000
;Model C-4000
;Model BC-4000
;Model SBC-4000
;Model SC-4000
;Model D-4000
;Model E-4000
;Model BE-4000
;Model J4-4000
;Model K-4000
;Model DK-4000
;Model L-4000
;Model BM-4000
;Model B9-4000
;Model D9-4000
;Model U-4000
;Model W-4000
;Model DW-4000
;Model 4000-CAM
;Model 4000-SH
;Model 4000-T
;Model 4-D
;Model 4-P
;Model 4-PT
;Model 4-S
;Model 4-U
;Model D-4-D
;Model W-4-B
;Model Z-4-D

Operators

Civilian

;Parks Air College
;San Diego Air Service
;United States Department of Agriculture
;United States Department of Commerce

Military

;Peruvian Air Force

Surviving aircraft

This is a partial list of surviving examples of the Model 4000 and its subtypes, confined to aircraft that are still in commercial use, in museums, or in some other way notable.