Travel Air 9000


The Travel Air 9000 was 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 Curtiss-Wright CW-9 after Curtiss-Wright acquired Travel Air. Only four examples were built, two each converted from Travel Air 3000s and 4000s.

Design and development

Like other members of this family, the Model 9000 was an unequal-span, single-bay, staggered biplane of conventional design. The passengers and pilot sat in tandem, open cockpits. It had a conventional tail, and fixed, tailskid undercarriage. The fuselage was built from welded steel tubes, and the wings from wood. Travel Air model numbers primarily reflected changes in powerplant, and the Model 9000 was powered by a Siemens-Halske Sh 14 radial engine mounted in the nose, driving a tractor propeller.
The prototype, registered X-3791, began life as Model 4000, construction number 302. It was licensed on December 16, 1927, and received type certificate ATC-38 the following April. The second Model 9000 also began as a Model 4000, while the other two were conversions from Model 3000s.
NC4420, named Smith's Incubator, was re-engined for a time with a 10-cylinder Anzani engine, receiving approval 2-25 in July 1928. It was later converted back to Sh 14 power.

Operational history

A subsequent owner fitted the prototype Model 9000 with an extra fuel tank. In this configuration, Viola Gentry used it to set a new aerial endurance record for women. On December 3, 1928, she stayed aloft over Long Island for 8 hours 6 minutes and 37 seconds.
George B. Peck flew a Model 9000 in the 1928 Ford National Reliability Air Tour, attaining 22nd place.
Seventeen-year-old Richard James flew a Model 9000 named Spirit of American Youth to claim a $1,000 prize from the American Society of the Promotion of Aviation for the first young person under the age of eighteen to complete a transcontinental flight. James departed San Francisco on October 30, 1928 and arrived at Curtiss Field, Long Island on December 15. The Siemens-Halske company presented him with a silver loving cup and President Calvin Coolidge shook his hand.