Travel Air 8000

Travel Air · United States · first flew 1927 · light aircraft

The Travel Air 8000 was an American general-purpose biplane of the 1920s, built around an unusual cam-driven engine. It was also known as the Travel Air 4000-CAM and later as the Curtiss-Wright CW-8.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	7.37 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Unequal-span, single-bay, staggered biplane
Fairchild-Caminez radial engine mounted high on the nose, turning a 10 ft propeller
Tandem open cockpits for pilot and passengers

A Travel Air biplane with the engine mounted unusually high on the nose and an oversized propeller.

Specifications

The Travel Air 8000 has a length of 7.37 m (24 ft).
It has a wingspan of 10.57 m (35 ft).
Its maximum speed is 177 km/h (110 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

The prototype was a re-manufactured Travel Air Model B fitted with the 120 hp Fairchild-Caminez 447, which used a cam in place of a crankshaft and ran at half the speed of a conventional radial. The large propeller required the powerplant to be mounted higher on the nose.

Variants

Three examples were built: the prototype and two others about which little was recorded. The aircraft belonged to the family that began with the Travel Air Model A.

Where you'll see it

The engine proved troublesome, with heavy vibration and overheating. The aircraft received type certificate ATC-37 in April 1928, two months before the engine itself was certified, and it was the only type certified with that engine.

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