I II ,l ( I I The "Chevolair" Type R CHAPTER FOUR R-2002 - (N)R613K lined cowling that blended smoothly with the fuselage. Twelve exhaust stacks protruded from the bottom the Although it did not achieve the great fame attributed of cowl and a series louvers on the top and sides were its sister ship R614K, the Chevolair-powered Type R of intended help ventilate the engine compartment. an interesting existence and experienced its own to The painted of triumph. In the summer of 1929 Arthur ship was red overall with accent trim but lacked let, president of Indianapolis, Indiana-based the fancy scallop treatment given to its more powerful Motors, Inc. was able to interest Walter Beech sibling. Herb Rawdon in a new air-cooled, six-cylinder On August 24, 1929 Clarence Clark piloted R6i3K on one day remained engine that the company had recently developed its first flight. Only before the ship was scheduled to depart for Cleveland, Ohio to compete planned to place into production in1930. It was the 1929 National Races. Compared that the engine would power a second Type R to in Air with its Whirlwind-powered sister ship the Chevolair-powered alongside the'Wright-powered ship at the 1929 Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio. Herb Rawdon airplane's performance was bland. It had a maximum speed about 150 mph. 1981 Clark recalled that originally envisioned an in-line engine for his sleek of In it , and the D-6 powerplant seemed promising was the first time the D-6 engine had been installed in an airplane, and the pressure flight-test R613K in its basic form the Chevolaír developed only with all to and to Cleveland there was little time to "work out hp., the engine was rated at ll0 hp. at 2,400 RPM. fly it the bugs" that plagued the powerplant. the installation in R613K. Engine displacement was cubic inches. Construction of R-2002, also written in Travel Air Photographed by Edgar Smith late in August 1929, Travel Air s as RC-2002 to reflect the Chevolair engine, test pilot Clarence Clark is holding the control stick aft to keep in July and proceeded almost simultaneously with R613K's tail planted firmly on the ground as he runs the Chevolair D-6 engine at power. Àlmost identical to its síster (R614K). The airplane was identical to its sister full ship R6l4K except for the engine installation, the Chevolair- except for the fuselage, which retained its narrow powered Type R proved to be a disappointment to Herb and slender form from the firewall to the Rawdon, Walter Burnhqm, andWalter Beech. The support struts skid. The D-6 engine provided by Chevolair was list- between the longerons and the stub wing appear to be longer in Travel Air company documents as "serial number than those of R6I4K because of the racer's narrow fuselage. (Kenneth D. Wílson) " and it was housed within a hand-formed, stream- EÍ] tle than it did at full throttle" because of problerng the twin Stromberg carburetors. The engine also consuming large quantities of oil, chiefly because abundance of leaks and the incessant high engine peratures that accelerated consumption, and oil increased and decreased in proportion to the oil occurred to Clark that the old adage, "Fill'er up and check the gas," described the whimsical perfectly. On August 25 Clarence mounted R613K and took on what was to become a long, frustrating eight- flight to Cleveland. Enroute, the engine continued pattern of misbehavior as Clark stopped at Ottaw Doug Davis and Clarence Clark nurnber "32"in a flew few Kansas City, Moline, South Bend, and Toledo for races at Cleveland, but problems with the engine forced Walter Beech to withdraw the airplane from competition for shipment and oil-lots of oil. He found the Model 60008 back to Wichita. High oil temperatures, low oil pressure, oil accompanied him a comforting sight, and because Leaks and erratic throÍtle response plagued the monoplane from two airplanes had similar cruising speeds it proved its first flight. (Peter M. Bowers) for both ships to keep pace with each other From the first flight Clarence had to cope with an series of interviews with Clark in 1981, he told the overheating engine and high oil temperatures. During the author that the Chevolair-powered Type R was aD first few hours of testing these problems not only persist- "unpleasant airplane to fly," although he conceded that rworse. ed but grew Despite a series of minor modifica- the six-cylinder engine had the potential to mature into ¿ tions that were made to the cowling in an effort to reliable powerplant if proper investments in developmen¡ increase airflow to the cylinders, the engine still ran too time and expense had been made. But Travel Air had hot. In addition, the aluminum alloy exhaust stacks soon neither the luxury of time nor the money to do the began to crack, melt, and fall off the engine with alarm- Chevolair company's work for them. ing regularity. It quickly became apparent to Rawdon, The airplane had been assigned race numbeÍ "32" fot Clark and Walter Beech that the ill-tempered Chevolair the Cleveland competition. It was first entered in Event was a troublesome powerplant. As Clarence proceeded No. 3, the Experimental Ship Race for civilian pilots. with his testing, work continued on the engine in a vain Flown by Doug Davis, the red racer led a distinguished effort to improve throttle response, cooling and reduce pack that included veteran race pilot Ed Heath in his oil temperatures. Travel Air mechanics, however, did famous "Baby Bullet" as well as H.A. Speer in a Barling manage to fashion new steel exhaust stacks and these NB-3 and H.S. Myhres flying a Simplex monoplane. performed well. Doug took the checkered flag at an averaee speed of Clarence also experienced other diffrculties with the 113.38 mph., followed by Heath in his Bristol temperamental D-6 engine. He discovered that the "Cherub"-powered machine at 105.4 mph. Clarence engine seemed to have "more power at two-thirds throt- Clark was next to fly R613K. He managed to capture Photographs made of R613K (R-2002) at the Cleveland races third place in Event No. 9, the civilian race for airplanes often depict the airplane sitting idle with its engine access pan- with engines having a displacement of 5lO-cubic inches. els removed. Travel Air mechanics were challenged to keep the Clark posted an average speed of 126.14 mph. Chevolair operatíng. The D-6 engíne incorporated many innov- Although the Travel Air had been successful, the ative safety but still was in an underdeveloped state features it Chevolair engine did not run properly and the usual host whenfitted to R613K. (Kenneth D. Wilson) of problems with high oil consumption and overheatittg persisted. Walter Beech, however, had lost his patience with the Chevolain Concerned that the engine would fail or suffer a fire in flight and possibly cause an acciderú, he withdrew the ship from further competition. When the Cleveland races endèd, Clark informed Beech that he did not want to fly the airplane back to'Wichita. As a Walter instructed the Travel Air ground crew to the aircraft to the hangar, dismantle it, and preparc It shipment by rail. The airplane was later carefully and sent back to'Wichita to await its fate. As for the engine, it was removed and returned to the company. The airplane remained in storage until later September when it was reengined with a seven-cy Wright J-6-7 (serial number I22I7) rated at 225 hp swung a Standard steel propeller (hub number 941 cowling was not fitted. It is interesting to note that ø 's designation was unoffrcially changed to "RJ- A police fficer on horseback watches as Travel Air mechanics 2002" to reflect thel-6-7 engine. A special "NR" license complete a propeller change on R613K. The airplane was capa- (Røytheon issued on October 7 that was valid until December ble of speeds approøching 150 mph. Aircrøft Company) 1,7929.In September and October the ship competed in at Kansas City, Missouri and Tulsa, Oklahoma and the attractive racer, and he did not have to wait long. In its new engine was transformed into a competitive March flamboyant aviatrix Florence Lowe "Pancho" especially for events in the 800 cubic-inch dis- Barnes learned from Travel Air dealer H.C. "Red" class. 1 Lippiatt that the Type R was for sale and she wasted no After the autumn racing season ended Walter Beech time in claiming it for herself. According to Bame's biog- R613K refurbished and made it available for pur- rapher Barbara Hunter Schultz, "Pancho" quickly wired The airplane had accumulated only 30 hours time- Beech that she would purchase the airplane. She flew to since it was built and its general condition was Wichita with Lippiatt to complete the transaction. Walter unced as "good" by Department of Commerce knew "Pancho" would argue for a lower price when she eronautics Branch inspector Walter L. Pike on arrived at the factory, but dealing with master salesman 13, 1929. One month later it had flown 50 and businessman Beech would not be an easy task. and was issued a restricted license for racing that Lippiatt and Barnes landed at Travel Air Field and valid until January 15, 1930. The license was soon were soon whisked into the headquarters building to to March 15 and then to May 1, 1930. close the deal. With a lit cigar clamped between her lips Walter Beech was confident that someone would buy "Pancho" walked into Walter's office and began her cam- view of R613K shows the Chevolair engine installation paign to lower the price.