Civilian Aviation Register, NC3312, Travel Air 4000, Bi-plane
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Travel Air 2000, 3000 and 4000
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2000, 3000, 4000, CW-14, Sportsman, Osprey
Role biplane aircraft
Manufacturer Travel Air, Curtiss-Wright
Designer Lloyd Stearman
First flight 13 March 1925
Introduction 1925
Primary user private owners, aerial sightseeing businesses
Produced 1925-1930
Number built approx 1,300
The Travel Air 2000/3000/4000 (originally, the Model A, Model B and Model BH)[3] and later marketed as a Curtiss-Wright product under the names CW-14, Speedwing, Sportsman and Osprey), were aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s by the Travel Air Manufacturing Company. Travel Air produced more aircraft during the period from 1924-1929 than any other manufacturer
The types shared a common structure of a conventional single-bay biplane with staggered wings braced by N-struts. The fuselage was of fabric-covered steel tube and included two open cockpits in tandem, the forward of which could carry two passengers side-by-side.
Like other aircraft in the Travel Air line, it was available with a variety of different, interchangeable wings, including a wing shorter and thinner than the rest known as the "Speedwing" designed, as the name suggests, for increased performance. Travel Air entered a specially-modified Model 4000 (designated 4000-T) in the Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Competition of 1930, but it was disqualified.
In 1933 a Travel Air 2000 was modified by George and William Besler where the usual inline or radial gasoline piston engine was replaced by an oil-fired, reversible steam engine, which became the first airplane to successful fly using a steam engine, with a 90° angle V-twin compound engine of their own design.
Following Travel Air Manufacturing Company purchase in August 1929[7] by Curtiss-Wright, the Model 4000 continued in production into the early 1930s as the CW-14, and the range was expanded to include a military derivative dubbed the Osprey. This was fitted with bomb racks, a fixed, forward-firing machine gun, and a trainable tail gun. These aircraft were supplied to Bolivia and used during the Gran Chaco War, which eventually led to Curtiss-Wright’s successful prosecution for supplying these aircraft in violation of a U.S. arms embargo.
