1929 Travel Air E4000

From Airmail to Agriculture: The Many Lives of NC691K

NC691K was delivered to its first owner on Black Thursday October 29, 1929. While that date will always be remembered as the start of the Great Depression it was also the day the bell tolled for the demise of hundreds of small aircraft manufacturers as the nation plunged into depression.  Before that happened though this 1929 Travel Air E4000 would begin its working life as an airliner of sorts, like today’s regional jets, flying passengers from smaller airports to bigger ones across Texas. 

What really made Texas Air Transport possible though, as for most airlines of the period, was the mail.  Rob Lock’s Travel Air flew the mail and was eventually absorbed into Aviation Corporation which ultimately became American Airlines.  After that it, like many large open cockpit biplanes of the 1920’s and 1930’s it became a crop duster.  After Rob restored it in 2018 it went back to its first role carrying passengers.  NC 691K has always been a working airplane.

Sitting on its iconic 30 inch by 5-inch-tall wheels Rob purchased the E4000 and began the restoration with the intention of putting it on EDO floats.  That never happened but the airplane began its restoration shortly after purchase in 2009. Noted restorer and mentor to many others Mark Lightsey did some work on the plane with Rob and Rob’s partner Jill Manka before bringing it home to Florida.  Dave Groh of Yesteryear Aviation in Michigan built wing kits and guided Rob through building the wings. 

Another friend at nearby Fantasy of Flight taught Rob how to do the needed metal work on the plane and Rob, with Jill’s assistance covered the airplane.  Jill picked the colors and the silver and orange are an homage to its first owner Texas Air Transport.  The Travel Air features a Continental radial engine and a huge 104-inch Hamilton Standard propeller.  It also features a rarely seen today inertial starter. 

Rob’s Travel Air, the product of many hands and much expertise, was finished in 2018 and took its maiden flight on May 19th.  Soon after that it was off on the 2018 Great American Barnstormer’s Tour. 

​​