I've actually been in the Travel Air business a bit in the last 4 months, ferried this one
from Wisconsin to Virginia in August,
Then this one
from New York to Texas in September
Then hopping rides with Dewey Davenport in his Travel Air at the Miller Pumpkin Barn near Dayton, OH in October
real barnstorming out of a farm field
http://gobiplanerides.com/Home_Page.php I always wondered why anybody would buy a Stearman when they could have a Travel Air, which will run rings around the Stearman, but of course the PT has the warbird connection, is more common, and is indeed a well engineered airplane. The Travel Air is for sure an older machine as far as systems and structure and creature comforts, but it does perform well, being a few hundred pounds lighter I think, and a higher lift airfoil on the standard Model 4000. It's been a while since I've flown a Stearman, but I think it probably has better harmonised controls than the Travel Air, which has ailerons that can be slightly heavy, but light on the elevators and rudder. Since it was a delivery flight I didn't get to play much with the Speedwing, didn't even stall it, but did three aileron rolls and two loops. It does loop nice, but takes some work to roll. I've flown a couple of Taperwings, and they do roll better, with the four ailerons, and the tapered wings probably help also. The Taperwing did have a little bit of a "hotter" feel to it, and I might lean towards one of those if given a choice. I only made one take-off and landing in the Speedwing, both on grass, and in pretty good wind. As you know that's where the fun is, so can't say too much about that on that machine, but on the Taperwings and other Travel Airs, especially with the tall tires, they are definately more squirrelly than the Stearman.
All good fun-
-