1929 Travel Air 2000/4000
Magic One is a much modified 1929
Travel Air 2000. It is currently owned and flown by Rod Magner of the Orcas Island Biplane
Works in the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washinton. He has taken up over 13,000
happy people in Magic One!
It
was purchased new by the famous flier, Doug Davis who also flew the TravelAir Mystery Ship
to win the Cleveland National Air Races. He ran a flight school at an old grass strip in
Atlanta called Candler Field, which has now becomeHartzfield Intl. After falling into
disrepair it was purchased for a song by a crop duster and went to Mississippi and later
San Benito Texas to dust. A Beechcraft dealer picked it up, had it painted with sunbursts
on the upper wing. An airline pilot bought it out of Ft. Worth and took it to Tucson
intending to barnstorm but never did. It was purchased by a friend of Rod Magner and on
the flight back landing at Phoenix a brake broke and it flipped over on its back pretty
much wiping it out. He decided to restore it and did so by essentially building a
completely new airplane and transferring the data plate from the old wreck. There are some
fittings from the original, but it has a new fuselage, new wings and a little dihedral!
Magic has had five different engines on it, first one an OXX6, which had dual ignition.
Also has had a couple different Wrights on it. The Continental W-670 has been on it since
about 1947. There is no doubting that Magic One is a good name for this aircraft!
Specifications: Wing Span: 34 ft 8 in (10.6 m) Length: 24 ft 2 in (7.4 m)Height: 8 ft 11
in (2.7 m)Weight, Empty: 1,700 lb. (605 kg) Weight, Gross: 2,200 lb. (989 kg) Cruising
Speed: 100 mph (137 km/h) Max Speed: 120 mph (161 km/h) Rate of Climb: 720 ft (158 m)/min
Service Ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,050 m) Range: 500 mi. (805 km) Power Plant: Continental
W-670, 220hp radial engine.