Travel Air 8000

Model 8000
Role General aviation
National origin United States
Manufacturer Travel Air
First flight 1927
Number built 3
Developed from Travel Air Model B

The Travel Air 8000 was an American general-purpose biplane of the 1920s, a member of the family of aircraft that began with the Travel Air Model A.[1] It was also known as the Travel Air 4000-CAM,[2] and later as the Curtiss-Wright CW-8 after Curtiss-Wright acquired Travel Air.[3] Only three examples were built.[4]

Design and development

Like other members of this family, the Model 8000 was an unequal-span, single-bay, staggered biplane of conventional design.[4] The passengers and pilot sat in tandem, open cockpits.[4] It had a conventional tail, and fixed, tailskid undercarriage.[4] The fuselages were built from welded steel tubes, and the wings from wood.[5] Travel Air model numbers primarily reflected changes in powerplant, and the Model 8000 was powered by a Fairchild-Caminez 447 radial engine mounted in the nose, driving a tractor propeller.[6]

The prototype Model 8000 was a re-manufactured Travel Air Model B.[2][7] Its engine was an innovative design that used a cam in place of a crankshaft.[8][9] The result was an engine that was mechanically simpler[9] and which ran at half the RPMs of a conventional radial engine for the same power,[2] promising greater efficiency.[8] The low RPMs needed a larger propeller,[2] 10 feet (3.0 m) in diameter,[10] compared to the 8-foot-4-inch (2.54 m) propeller of the Travel Air 2000.[11] In turn, the larger propeller needed more ground clearance, which meant that the whole powerplant had to be mounted higher on the Model 8000's nose.[8]

Despite much enthusiasm for the new engine among American manufacturers, it did not work well.[8] It was prone to excessive vibration, even to the point of splitting propellers,[2] it ran hot because the large propeller hubs needed to absorb its torque also blocked cooling air from the cylinders,[10] and that torque also twisted airframes.[10]

It proved very difficult for Fairchild-Caminez to get the engine operating reliably enough to pass certification.[2] By the time this was achieved, in June 1928,[2] the Model 8000 itself had already received type certificate ATC-37 in April. It would be the only aircraft type certified to use this engine.[8]

Beside the prototype, only two other examples of the Model 8000 were built, and no details about them other than one construction number have been preserved.[4]

The problems with the engine proved insurmountable,[8] and development was abandoned in fall, 1928.[9] It was withdrawn from sale,[8] and Fairchild Aircraft founder Sherman Fairchild offered customers their money back.[12]

By March 1929, the Fairchild-Caminez engine was removed from the prototype Model 8000 and the aircraft was converted into a Travel Air 2000.[4]

Operational history

Fairchild Aircraft purchased the prototype, and entered it in the 1928 Ford National Reliability Air Tour[2] together with a Fairchild-Caminez 447-powered Waco 10.[13] Flown by James Nelson Kelly, the Model 8000 finished in thirteenth place[14][15] out of a field of twenty-five, requiring several engine changes.[2]

Specifications

Data from Phillips 1994, p.106

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1 pilot
  • Capacity: 2 passengers
  • Length: 24 ft 2 in (7.37 m)
  • Wingspan: 34 ft 8 in (10.57 m)
  • Height: 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
  • Wing area: 296 sq ft (27.5 m2)
  • Empty weight: 1,475 lb (669 kg)
  • Gross weight: 2,300 lb (1,043 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Fairchild-Caminez 447 Four-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine, 120 hp (89 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 110 mph (180 km/h, 96 kn)
  • Range: 450–500 mi (720–800 km, 390–430 nmi)

Notes

References

  1. ^ Taylor 1993, pp.856,865
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pelletier 1995, p.27
  3. ^ Bowers 1979, p.399
  4. ^ a b c d e f Pelletier 1995, p.28
  5. ^ Phillips 1994, p.91–92
  6. ^ Pelletier 1995, p.27–28
  7. ^ Phillips 1994, p.106
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Juptner 1962, p.105
  9. ^ a b c "Fairchild Caminez 447-C, Radial 4 Engine, Cutaway"
  10. ^ a b c Forden 1972, p.64
  11. ^ Phillips 1994, p.113
  12. ^ Forden 1972, p.65
  13. ^ Forden 1972, pp.64,85
  14. ^ Juptner 1962, p.106
  15. ^ Forden 1972, pp.64,84

Bibliography

  • Bowers, Peter M. (1979). Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947. London: Putnam Aeronautical.
  • "Fairchild Caminez 447-C, Radial 4 Engine, Cutaway". National Air and Space Museum. Washington, D.C.: The Smithsonian Institution. n.d. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  • Forden, Lesley (1972). The Ford Air Tours 1925–1931. New Brighton, Minnesota: Aviation Foundation of America.
  • Juptner, Joseph P. (1962). U.S. Civil Aircraft Vol. 1 (ATC 1-100). Los Angeles: Aero Publishers.
  • Pelletier, Alain J. (1995). Beech Aircraft and their Predecessors. London: Putnam Aeronautical.
  • Phillips, Edward H. (1994). Travel Air: Wings over the Prairie. Eagan, Minnesota: Flying Books International.
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1993). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.