The Travel Air Model 10 was a 4-seat single-engined light aircraft of the late 1920s. Twelve aircraft were built before production ended.

In 1929, the Travel Air Manufacturing Company of Wichita, Kansas, unveiled the Model 10, a four-seat light aircraft of similar layout to the larger Travel Air 6000 airliner, intended for use as an air taxi and charter aircraft.^[1] Like the Model 6000, the Model 10 was the work of Herb Rawdon,^[2] and was a single-engined monoplane with a braced, high wing, a fixed tailwheel undercarriage and an enclosed cabin. It was of mixed construction, with a fabric covered steel-tube fuselage and a wooden wing, with spruce spars and spruce and plywood ribs.^[3] The prototype was initially powered by a 300 hp (220 kW) Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind 9-cylinder radial engine, but was later modified with a 185 hp (138 kW) Curtis Challenger radial before finally being fitted with a 225 hp (168 kW) 7-cylinder Wright J-6-7 Whirlwind.^[4]

It was planned to offer the Model 10 with a range of engines, but owing to the effects of the Great Depression in reducing demand for aircraft, production only followed of the Model 10-D, powered by a Wright J-6-7. This was initially priced at $11,250, but this price soon fell to $8,495. Despite this, only eleven Model 10-Bs were built,^[3] and production was ended after Travel Air was purchased by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation.^[2] Curtiss-Wright built a four-seat aircraft of similar layout in 1931, designed by the ex-Travel Air engineer Walter Burnham, the Curtiss-Wright CW-15, but this too sold poorly, with only 15 CW-15s built.^[5][6]

Model 10-B

Initial prototype, powered by Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind.^[4]

Model 10-D

Production model, powered by Wright J-6-7 Whirlwind. Eleven built.^[4]

Data from Beech Aircraft and their Predecessors^[3]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 3 passengers
• Length: 26 ft 10 in (8.18 m)
• Wingspan: 43 ft 6 in (13.26 m)
• Height: 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m)
• Wing area: 239 sq ft (22.2 m²)
• Airfoil: Göttingen 593
• Empty weight: 2,130 lb (966 kg)
• Gross weight: 3,400 lb (1,542 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Wright J-6-7 Whirlwind 7-cylinder radial engine, 225 hp (168 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 126 mph (203 km/h, 109 kn) at sea level
• Cruise speed: 106 mph (171 km/h, 92 kn)
• Range: 550 mi (890 km, 480 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 13,000 ft (4,000 m)
• Rate of climb: 675 ft/min (3.43 m/s)

• Bowers, Peter M. (1979). Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-10029-8.
• Gunston, Bill (2005). World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers (2nd ed.). Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3981-8.
• Pelletier, A. J. (1995). Beech Aircraft and their Predecessors. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-062-2.