Travel Air Manufacturing Company Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and
Lloyd Stearman joined their talents to form Travel Air
Manufacturing in Wichita on January 26, 1925. The company’s
first planes were open cockpit biplanes made for racing and
training. In the first Women's Air Derby of 1929, seven of the
competitors flew Travel Air planes. Pilot Louise Thaden placed
first in the race in her Travel Air. In the post World War I
years, individuals and businesses began to see the need for air
transportation, and Travel Air began to develop aircraft to
serve this growing market. Subsequent models were monoplanes
made for the airlines, used for both mail and passenger routes,
and private business use. Their series of "mystery ships," used
for racing, were reported to be the fastest aircraft available.
When the Great Depression in 1929 impacted Travel Air’s sales,
the partners sold the company to Curtiss-Wright Corporation,
which eventually became the largest air manufacturer in the U.S.
Cessna, Beech, and Stearman eac