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This
image is dated October 28, 1929. It comes to us from the C.B.
Cosgrove Photograph and Document Collection available
for your view on this site.
NC6455 was flown to Tucson by C. Burton Cosgrove on April 1,
1929, arriving from Hurley, NM. He carried a single passenger,
one E. Bennett.
Travel Air W-4000 NC6455, Probably Photographed at Tucson
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Below is the reverse of the image above. The Tucson Star of July 29, 1928 headlined, "NEW AIR SCHOOL WILL OPEN HERE". It reported the formation of the Southwest Air Service, Inc., owned by pilot Cosgrove and his partner H.W. Durham, both fresh out of college. They incorporated to, "carry on the business of transportation by air of passengers, express, freight, mail and every kind of commodities."
NC6455 reverse of image
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Indeed, the article goes on to describe their fleet of Travel Airs, including, "... three air-cooled Seimens-Halske Travelair [sic] planes for student instruction, delivery on which should be made September 1; one Whirlwind Travelair which will be brought to Tucson the middle of next month from the factory by Cosgrove and one OK [Oklahoma] Travelair plane which the service already has on hand." NC6455 was one of the fleet.
UPDATE OF NOVEMBER 26, 2015: NC6455 has been restored to flying condition as pictured below.
Travel Air NC6455, November 15, 2015 (Source: King)
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This photo, and the one below, comes from site visitor Andrew King who states, "I just finished delivering Travel Air NC6455 to its owner in North Dakota, and in doing some research saw that it's in the D-M register, with a photo. Here is a photo of it during the delivery flight from Brodhead, Wisconsin, where it was restored, to Dazey, North Dakota where owner Terry Bryn lives. Photo taken on November 15, 2015 at Murdock, Minnesota. This airplane was owned by Terry's father Peter from 1946 until he died in 1981, when Terry inherited it. It was stored for many years, and had not flown since 1951 when restoration was started a few years ago by Kent McMakin in Brodhead for Terry. First flight was in October 2015. It had a Warner on it when new, then a Wright J-5 during the 1940s and 1950s, and now it has a Continental W-670 engine of 220 hp."
Further, Mr. King states for the photograph below, "Here is another photo of NC6455, taken at Wahpeton, North Dakota on November 19, 2015. This airplane was owned at one point by a Frank "Gummy" Dowd and based in Wahpeton from the mid 1930s until purchased by Peter Bryn in 1946."
Travel Air NC6455, November 19, 2015 (Source: King)
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UPLOADED: 11/19/06 REVISED: 12/01/08, 11/26/15
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