Saturday, March 10, 2007

What Kind Of Airplane Is That?



Does anyone know what kind of airplane this is? The photo is from approximately 1925.

Thanks to Jeff for identifying the airplane as the Travel Air “Mystery Ship.” If you would like to learn more about this very famous airplane, please click here.

3 Comments:

Blogger Mike said...

Possibly a Ryan ST, maybe an old Lockheed.

1:37 PM, March 11, 2007  
Blogger JeffKay said...

It does look like a Ryan ST, and my first guess, the Hughes Racer.

But I Googled around for 1930s planes and pinpointed it by the distinctive landing gear.

This airplane, with the intriguing name Travel Air Mystery Ship, is tied to a HUGE amount of aviation history.

It's a racer from the Golden Age of Flight between the World Wars.

Five were built, from 1929 into the early 1930s. The fourth, Texaco no. 13, is on display in Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

Travel Air Manufacturing was founded by Walter Beech, Lloyd Stearman, and Clyde Cessna.

Jimmy Doolittle raced the Mystery Ship.

Pancho Barnes broke Amelia Earhart's world women's speed record in this plane. Later, she was proprietor of The Happy Bottom Riding Club, best know today as the test pilots' bar in the book and movie The Right Stuff.

More info here, here and here.

1:46 PM, March 11, 2007  
Blogger Ookpik said...

Jeff,

Thanks for the identification and all the information! Like you, I initially thought the plane was the Hughes Racer. It is great to find out that it is an equally famous airplane!

7:53 PM, March 11, 2007  

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