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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. She was no match for Beech, who refused to budge one penny on the price-$12,500, take it or leave it. Not only did Barnes take it, she paid an additional $1,000 for special equipment, instruments Arrangement of flying and landing wires on R6l3Kwas similar to the configuration used on R6l4K. (Peter M. Bowers)

B After the Cleve R-2002 was refurb attention to the new location of H.C. Lippiatt's Travel reengined with J-6-7 radial engine. Air dealership. Actor Wallace Beery, who had bought a the installation ve than that of the custom-built Model 460004 cabin monoplane from powerplant, the J-6-7 significantly Travel Air in December 1928, was among those flying in mance. McLximum speed increased to Barnes and her new Travel Aìr. 2 the oil tank cap is visible on the boot the formation with In her book, "Pancho - The Biography of Florence a new paint scheme that replicated the design used and Lowe Barnes," Schultz recalls that in July 1930 Barnes a short-span set of racing wings on R614K. In addition, had the opportunity to put her Type R in the movies- (refer to Chapter One sidebar, "The may have been built specifically to record sounds for Howard Hughes'epic Wings"). Question Of flying film, "Hell's Angels." It was among the earliest commenced on the ship and on l'/.ay 29, 1930 Work aviation motion pictures to feature a soundtrack and paid The aircraft had three fuel Barnes the $12,500. although he already had recorded sounds from other air- provided a total capacity of 52 ga\lons. Travel tanks that planes to dub into the film, Hughes \ryas unsatisfied until are unclear whether a Air documents on R613K he heard the roar of the Wright J-6-7. He hired "Pancho" was installed at the factory or Townend ring for the J-6-1 and her airplane to fly around a red balloon suspended On June after Barnes had taken delivery of the airplane. 1,000 feet above Caddo Field in the San Fernando 2J Travel Air delivered the racer to Grand Central Airport in Glendale, California and four days later "Pancho" led a procession of 15 airplanes from Metropolitan Airport to Grand Central Airport to draw ClcLrence Clark and lra McConnaughey raced R6l3K and per- part of it all." 3 formed aerobatic roúines at airshows and regíonal events in Overflowing with enthusiasm for her new airplane' during the atúumn months of the mid-western [Jnited States the next montñ Barnes decided to make an affempt t0 1929. (Røytheon Airuaft Compøny) ve" at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport. On arnes broke screaming at 150-160 feet passes over a measured, øbove the airport and made four one-mile course. Joseph Nikrent, an official with the Nadonal Aeronautic Association that sanctioned offrcial attempts, timed each pass. The average speed was p6.I9 mph., and the highest speed recorded was 197.26 mph.-nearly 14 mph. faster than Amelia's record. Miss sent her congratulations to "Pancho" who rev- Anot Smith at Eãrhart lines of her new-found notorietY. toty eled in lage. ings, a s To keep her name in the headlines Barnes knew that also 13K' (R she had to keep setting records. As a result, in February Company) 1931 she scheduled the airplane into Lippiatt's Travel Air In Ma1, 1930 Florence Lowe "Pancho"Barnes bought R613K shops in Glendale, California where the seven-cylinder and had it repainted at the Travel Air in a red and black and replaced by a 300-hp., factory radial engine was removed design similar to that applied to R6l4K. Later a Townend ríng nine-cylinder'Wright J-6-9 radial (serial number 1067 6). was installed around ¡lx¿ s¿1ten-cylinder Wright engine. Note In addition, a fourth fuel tank was installed that increased bonnet fairing installed on the front of the air-cooled power- s n e gøtiv numb e 7 4 - 3 40 0 total capacity to 62 gallons. Empty weight changed to p t ant. ( S mith s o niøn I n titutio n e r )

ø owed Mantz hangar rent for other airplanes in addition NR613K. and retaine¿ Mantz eventually repaired the ship ¡1 the next seven years for use in movies, aerobatics exhibition flying. The registration was c NX613K to reflect the airplane's classification Experimental category. By March 1937 it Department of Commerce records as being able for reconditioning.' ' With her financial mounting, on September 6, 1938 Barnes sold the frame to Mantz for $1.00 and the J-6-9 engine an¿ steel propeller for $750. In May 1939 the airplane was completely bled and received an extensive overhaul. It was with five fuel tanks, three that held 8 gallons each, with a capacity of 20 gallons, and another that held gallons The J-6-9 was removed and replaced by a In 1930 "Pancho"Barnes flew R613K to record various engine J-6-9 (serial number 12579) that had accumulated 1 sounds that were incorporated into Howard Hughes' epic flying cables were motion picture, "Hells Angels."She also set a number of speed hours in service, and new control records with the airplane. (Peter M. Bowers) Inverted fuel and oil lines also were incorporated, ¿ forward fuselage cowling was fabricated, and one 1,475 pounds and gross weight was limited to I,940 tional brace wire was installed above each wing. It is pounds. Useful load was 465 pounds. A racing license esting to note that 10 years after it was built, the was issued that was valid until March 1,1932. With these only 110 hours of time-in-service. 5 completed, on March l, 1931 Barnes had accumulated modifications Following its refurbishment by Mantz, NX613K established an unofficial inter-city record by flying from only five hours in the next year. By March 1941 the Los Angeles to Sacramento in2 hours, 13 minutes. tank configuration had changed again to a 15-gallon She also seriously considered an attempt on the in the upper fuselage, another l5-gallon tank in the transcontinental speed record established in 1930 by fuselage, and a 2}-gallon tank was installed in the Frank M. Hawks in his Texaco Travel Air Type R. On wing and another in the right wing. Civil flew from New York to Los Angeles in 14 August 6 he Authority records dated March I7, I94l indicate 30 minutes, 43 seconds against prevailing head- hours, with the 330-hp. J-6-9 the airplane had a winds. Less than a week later on August 13 he made the airspeed of 115 mph. in level flight and 240 mph. in (with prevailing tailwinds) in only 12 hours, return trip glide or dive. seconds. Despite her good intentions, 25 minutes, 3 From 1941-1945 rhe Type R remained on the unable to secure sponsors and her plans Barnes was since civilian flying was severely restricted during never materialized. War Two. In August 1948 the airplane' s license was known that "Pancho" guarded her Travel It was well celed by the Federal Aviation Agency because United jealously and let only a few other pilots fly it. Air Type R Services, Inc. had failed to renew it, according to these Frank Clarke, Moye Stephens, Paul Among were records. tycoon named ManIz, and a wealthy tool company Although her days of fame had faded into Barbara Shultz, when Howard Hughes. According to Barnes still clung to the past and longed to fly the Hughes was given an opportunity to fly the racer he to Barnes, only a pilots were on landing and it hit the run- In addition few apparently stalled the ship R613K. Unfo rtunately, the airplane was gear. way hard, damaging the wings and the landing Howard Hughes made a hard landing during Logan Nourse, a close friend of Barnes, "stated that it flight. The damage eventuallY was repaired and the was Hughes that landed hard and buckled the ship's was acquired by famous movie stunt pilot Paul Mantz. wings." 4 Underwood) Accounts differ regarding what happened next. Barbara Schultz states that Barnes "struck a deal with Paul Mantz. He would repair and maintain the Mystery Ship in his Burbank Hangar in exchange for using the plane in movies. He put Pancho on his payroll in order to legally split any fees made with airplane. The last part of the agreement was a loan to Pancho in the amount of $5,000 using the Travel Air as collateral." But according to historian John W. Underwood, a pilot for Mantz named "Pat" Patterson recalled that Mantz took the monoplane in payment for hangar rent that Barnes had failed to pay. The airplane had been placed in storage since the landing incident, and "Pancho" also may have Æl Ãir again. Rekindled by the urge to fly her beloved During his ownership Paul Mantz installed both Wright J-6-7 Mystely Ship to new fame and fortune, in February 1958 and J-6-9 radial engines on the airplane, which was licensed "Pancho" wrote to Olive Ann Beech, president of the NX6I3K for aerobatic and motion picture work. The paint col- BeechAircraft Corporation, with abizane proposal. It is ors were changed to nxaroon with cream and yellow accent trim, and the windsltield was modified. Note the installation of a third here in full: quoted wire above the wíngs. (John W. Underwood) "There is so much interest in the old ships now that I think it would be a fine thing to get my old Mystery S operated by Paul Mantz and Frank Tallman decided to out of its mothballs and maybe put it in the Women's auction off the entire airplane collection. Still fired by Transcontinental Race this summer (referring to the determination to fly her aging racer, "Pancho" planned to , modern "Powder Puff Derby). The ship is in good shape, bid for the airplane. But she was not the only person who I stored with the wings off. If you could put her back wanted the rare monoplane. On the day of the auction i together at the factory and put a bubble canopy on her the competition was fierce, but when word spread ; cockpit, also an engine with a constant-speed propeller, thlough the crowd that Florence Lowe Barnes was bid- , she has a 300 Wright in her now, I think the little ship ding for the ship, it grew strangely quiet. Her son d like it fiber- William Barnes bid $4,300 for the airplane and won. i A restoration of the ship was begun by William i plan to fly her Barnes and Phil Schultz in the 1970s. But "Pancho" I have a factory would never fly the airplane again. She died on March , speed established (we want this as low as possible). The 30, 1915 and her son was killed in October, 1980 when ; factory built f,rve of these ships which should make them the P-51 "Mustang" he was flying crashed enroute to an , a production ship. They were very famous so nobody open house at Edwards Air Force Base. In the wake of could deny rhem. I could have my son, William E. Barnes' death progress on the restoration of R613K parnes, fix the ship up as he is an A&B (mechanic) and came to a halt and the famous racer was placed in long- term storage in Lancaster, California. 6 After Mantz was killed during filming of "The Flight of the Phoenix"in the mid-1960s, the Travel Air was sold at aucfion to William Barnes, " Pancho's" son. (Peter M. Bowers)

__l I

ÃÐ THE "CHEVOIAIR'' D-6 The Chevolair D-6 "Super Scfety Aircraft Motor" made its public debut in April 1929 at the All-American Aircratt Show held in Detroit, Michigan, In addition to the six-cylinder D-6 engine the company also offered the four-cylinder D-4 rated at 90 hp. Unfortunately, the col- lapse on Wall Street in October 1929 heralded the begin- ning ofa lO-year dlought in the aviation industry, and the Chevolair company was an early casualty of that debacle. In his quest for safety, Arthur Chevrolet incorporated a number of technical features into the powerplant that set it apart from other in-line designs of the era. The D-6 was equipped with dual Bosch magnetos that provided redun- dancy if one ignition source failed, and dual Stromberg carburetols each with a separate fuel line. The oil lines within the crankcase were drilled to reduce the possibility of power loss caused by a broken tube, and the intake and exhaust valves were located on opposite sides of the engine. The valves were operated by separate camshafts to reduce warpage and broken valve stems. Arth.ur Chevrolet',ç air-cooled Cheyolair D-6', Motor "Jundamentall trcts a legitimate The air-cooled D-6 had a bore and stroke 4 5/8 v- of duced in 1929, but was hampered b,,' inches and 5 Il4 inches, respectively, and a piston dis- The engt,xe. photograplrcd on a display placement of 529 cubic inches. Although it initially pro- netos and rwo carburetors. The engine and th.e duced 150 hp. in 1929 by May 1930 it was rated at 170 designed it beccune earl ,- víctints of the Great hp. at 2,400 RPM. Weighing 425 pounds (dry), the ( S miths o nían I ns titutio n n e g øtiv e numb e r 7 9 - I 3 49 2 ) engine featured steel cylinders with an aluminum alloy power/per hour. Oil consumption was 0.03 head screwed and shrunk into place, and two valves per horsepower/per hour. The D-6 had a length of cylinder. The dry sump lubrication system used a forced- inches, a width 20 inches (with magnetos, 13 feed, gear-type pump and included an elrergency oil flow without) and a height of 31 3/4 inches. In control valve that trapped oil in the engine if a leak D-4 and the D-6, Chevrolet planned to develop developed in an external line to the oil tank. In addition, ket eight- and 12-cylindel engines. Early in -930 a the engine could be changed to a wet sump supply by Air biplane powered by a D-6 engine attained an turning a handle and adding oil to a specified level. of 16,000 feet and reached 8,000 feet in eight Fuel consumption was 0.57 pounds/per horse- The pilot was French Livezy. t

CHAPTER FOUR NOTES

1. According to Aeronautics Bulletin No. 74, R613K and her four 3. The movie centered on two sister ships were not eligible for an Approved Type Certificate of a beautiful girl. When it (ATC) for three reasons: the landing speed was more than 60 success. mph., payload was less than 200 pounds, and the engines typically LetTer J turned more than l057o of the rated RPM (because they were used 4. from Barbara Hunter Schultz to the author, t999. chiefly for racing). None of the airplanes received an AIC. Department 1,1939' 2. Schultz, Barbara Hunter; "Pancho - The Biogrctphy of Florence 5. of Commerce records for R613K, Iune Lowe Barnes." Little Buttes Publishing Company, Lancaster, 6. After William Barnes' death in 1980 ownership of the California, 1996. reverted to his widow, Shouling Barnes.

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