Travel Air 12W Return to Flight

Since the Kelch Aviation Museum was formed as a non-profit corporation in 2012, a major goal of our ours has been to fly as many of the original collection of Al & Lois Kelch’s aircraft to the extent possible, both financially and practically. We chose to do this in order to keep the Kelch’s legacy alive and also to further the mission of the museum itself.

As mentioned in the previous post, we recently identified the Curtiss-Wright Travel Air 12W as the best candidate to inspect and fly this summer. On Saturday, June 27, 2015, director Greg Heckman fired up the Warner 165 and flew around the area to shake the cobwebs out of the old bird. We believe it last flew in 2002. Everything worked great and it sure sounded pretty in the sky overhead. Check out the pictures below.

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12W blows the grass back on take-off roll, June 27, 2015.

Travel Air 12W on its return to flight, June 27, 2015.

Travel Air 12W on its return to flight, June 27, 2015.

Pilot Greg Heckman with the 12W, June 27, 2015.

Pilot Greg Heckman with the 12W, June 27, 2015.

Travel Air 12W after its return to flight.

Travel Air 12W after its return to flight.

We were also able to attach a video camera to the right N-strut to get some good footage. A beautiful day for flying!

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