fighter. Acquisition by Curtiss-Wright Travel Air merged with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in August 1929. Curtiss-Wright continued to manufacture some of the Travel Air designs though they were renumbered again so that the 4000 became the 4, the 6000 became the 6. Additional types that had been close to production number from 8 to 16 were built while under Curtiss-Wright management such as the Curtiss-Wright CW-12. which in various marks was sold to several South American countries. Travel Air Founder (with Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman) Walter Beech resigned from the Curtis-Wright Corporation in March 1932 to form Beech Aircraft Company in Wichita,Ks. Powder Puff Derby In August 1929, the first Women's Air Derby was held. Of the 20 entrants in the Women's Air Derby, otherwise known as "the Powder Puff Derby", seven flew Travel Airs and it was Louise Thaden who won the Santa Monica, Calif., to Cleveland race. Opal Kunz finished eighth. The other five Travel Airs were flown by Pancho Barnes, Claire Fahy, Marvel Crosson, Mary von Mack, and Blanche Noyes. One of the odd qualifications was that the aircraft would have to have horsepower “appropriate for a woman.” Opal Kunz was told her airplane was too fast for a woman to handle, and had to get another aircraft or stay out of the race. “…Though Opal Kunz owned and flew her own 300 horse power Travel Air, it was disallowed since it was deemed by the judges to be “too fast for a woman to fly.” With 25,000.00 in prize money at stake, she bought a lower powered Travel Air to race with.” Aircraft References Notes Bibliography Hagedorn, Dan; Antonio Luis Sapienza: Aircraft of the Chaco War, 1928-1935. Schiffer Publishing Co. Atglen, PA. 1996 Sapienza Fracchia, Antonio Luis: La Contribución Italiana en la Aviación Paraguaya. Author's edition. Asunción, 2007. 300pp. External links http://aerofiles.com/_travel.html accessdate 2011-08-22 Travel Air – The Last Days, by Edward H. Phillips, March 5, 2021, King Air Magazine Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States