N8159 TRAVEL AIR S6000 B  S /N 967

N8159 was built by the Travel Air Corp. in Wichita KS in February 1929. The company president at that time was Clyde Cessna ,the general manager was Walter A. Beech and the design engineer was Lloyd Stearman. The following is a chronological history of this aircraft, from the day it was first sold until it was purchased by The Alaska Historical Aviation Museum.

2 March 1929 - Date of manufacture.

5 March 1929 - Sold to Texas Air Transport Flying Service of Fort Worth, TX. The purchase price was $13,000. This bill of sale was signed by Walter A. Beech for the Travel Air Company. The application for Identification Mark (N number) showed C.R. Smith as secretary-treasurer of Texas Air Transport Flying Service, which evolved into American Airlines with C.R. Smith as President and CEO.

5 March 1929 - Application for identification mark completed by Texas Air Transport Flying Service.

23 March 1929 - 8159 assigned as Identification Mark by U.S. Dept. of Commerce.

28 March 1929 - Application for an Airplane License, (see next entry), submitted to the Dept. of Commerce. This document listed February 1929 as the date of manufacture. It stated that the aircraft would only be flown by licensed pilots and would be operated over a fixed route--Ft. Worth--Houston--San Antonio. The equipment list showed no seat belts installed.

15 April 1929 - Commercial license issued. The various licenses that were issued when this aircraft was new were comparable to the Airworthiness Certificates used today.. The identification number would change depending on what license was in effect at the time; example, 8159 or C8159 or NC8159 or R8159. Only licensed pilots could legally fly aircraft with a letter prefix. If the number had no letter prefix, as in 8159, then it was limited to commercial operation wholly within one state and licensed pilots were specifically prohibited from flying an aircraft without a letter prefix while carrying persons or property for hire. The letter prefix designated the category the aircraft could be operated in. Several times during the 30’s and 40’s 8159 had an R prefix, as in R8159, because it was used for photography. C and NC were commercial licenses, R and NR were restricted licenses and X and NX were experimental licenses. These licenses were issued semi-annually.

6 July 1929 - Accident at Grand Island LA broke left undercarriage (landing gear) and bent the motor mount, possibly a ground loop.

12 December 1929 - Application was made for a Restricted license for photographic work.

15 December 1929 - Special airplane license issued restricting the aircraft to photographic work, the Identification Number became NR8159.

1 April 1930 - Commercial licenses reissued using a new form, this form stated the category as “Commercial” and the identification number became NC8159.

3 September 1932 - Ownership transferred from Texas Air/Southwest Air Transport to American Airways Inc. of St. Louis MO, C.R. Smith President.

5 October 1932 - Sold to Northland Aviation Co. Minneapolis MN.

7 October 1933 - Major overhaul completed, including replacing the windshield with non-shatterable glass, new tires, recovered ailerons, rebuilt elevators with new ribs and fabric, repaired rudder, replaced aileron elevator and rudder cables and overhauled engine.

6 December 1934 - Sold to Northwestern National Bank, Minneapolis MN.

10 December 1934 - Sold to Ellen Nisun, Minneapolis MN.

2 January 1935 - Both wings recovered.

4 January 1935 - Letter from Curtiss Wright Airplane Co. to Mr. Kenneth Nisun listed changes need to upgrade to a seven place airplane. This letter quoted him a price of $45.00 for a new chair, upholstered in red leather, this was probably how the other seats were upholstered.

29 January 1935 - In a letter to the Bureau of Air Commerce in Chicago IL, the Bureau in Minneapolis, asked if it were possible to licenses an airplane in two categories, the inspector had never been confronted with a request like this before, the only action necessary to change categories would be to remove the dual controls when carrying six passengers. This query was forwarded to Washington Engineering for advice. This request was approved 18 February 1936, however there were conditions attached and it took six more pieces of paper before final approval.

6 October 1935 - Sold to Viola Mary Buskey, Minneapolis, MN.

30 March 1937 - Sold to Mel Swanson, Minneapolis, MN.

7 September 1937 - Sold to Freeman Aircraft Sales, Minneapolis, MN.

25 October 1937 - Sold to Edna M. Enders, Minneapolis, MN

2 July 1938 - Sold to Harold E. Clark, Minneapolis, MN.

15 August 1938 - Sold to DePonti Aviation Co., Minneapolis, MN.

24 October 1938 - Sold to John M. Peterson, Peterson Flying Service , Boeing Field , Seattle, WA.

12 April 1939 - Engine overhaul cost $280.21, materials to refinish fuselage fabric cost $21.27.

28 April 1939 - Approval for first radio instalation requested. The installation consisted of transmitter, receiver, inverter and trailing wire antenna, and weighed 36.5 lbs.

1 August 1939 - Sold to Cordova Air Service, Cordova, Territory of Alaska. Merle K. Smith, known as “Mud Hole”, President. The purchase price was $3,500.00.

24 August 1939 - Commercial license application listed the total time, after ten years of service, as 1753.5.

25 November 1939 - Skis installed for the first time.

1 April 1940 - Extensive repairs after accident on 25 February 1940, included the motor mount, rear fuselage structure, ribs in left wing and replacement of propeller.

26 February 1941 - Extensive repairs required after accident on 31 October 1940.

22 September 1944 - Sold to Peck and Rice Airways, Anchorage, Territory of Alaska.

23 December 1944 - Sold to Mrs. Al Jones (Anne Bruington Jones), Bethel, Territory of Alaska. Mrs. Jones paid $6,000 for NC8159 and NC8713. She was originally from Alvin TX and was born, 18 February 1900.

1 June 1945 - Major repairs were completed, which included overhauling the engine, recovering the fuselage, replacing the right wing (with one from Travel Air S/N 6284) and installing an overhauled propeller.

25 April 1946 - The payoff of the mortgage is acknowledged by E.E. Rasmuson President of the National Bank Of Alaska. His signature appears several times in the records of this aircraft.

18 September 1946 - Major repairs were completed which included replacing all of the landing gear fittings, the landing gear, windshield, propeller and the engine. The work was done by Jack Carr of Anchorage.

20 September 1946 - Sold to Toivo Alfred Aho and Dallas Leroy Bowen, Anchorage, Territory of Alaska.

23 January 1948 - Major repairs were completed which included replacing all gear fittings, realigning the fusalage and fabricating a new motor mount. This motor mount made it possible to install a P/W R-985, 450 hp engine. This was accomplished by Pacific Airmotive at Merrill Field, Anchorage. The original engine was a Wright J-6, with 300 hp, this was later upgraded to a Wright R-975 with 330 hp.

13 June 1947 - Pratt & Whitney R-985-An-3 engine installed. The operation limitations issued by the Civil Aeronautics Administration stated that this aircraft was limited to operations within the Territory of Alaska. For approval elsewhere additional flight tests would be necessary to determine adequacy of oil inlet temperatures.

9 April 1948 - Both wings and ailerons were rebuilt, the damage was possibly caused by high winds.

1 June 1948 - Installed Edo J-5300 floats; this appears to be the first installation of floats on the aircraft

24 January 1949 - Sold to Albert Ball and Myron Moran, Dillingham, Territory of Alaska.

24 June 1949 - Recovered fuselage and empennage.

6 April 1951 - Repaired extensive damage, this was possibly caused by high winds, this repair did not involve the landing gear nor the engine and propeller. The form ACA 305a, AIRCRAFT INSPECTION REPORT, dated 6 April 1951, contained the following statement written by the CAA Aviation Safety Agent. “This particular plane and engine combination is not listed in the Aircraft listing, nor do I have a Specification sheet covering it. However it was originally licensed in Anchorage by the C.A.C. Engineering representative Clark Marks and Aviation Safety Agent Chas. Knobler.”

12 February 1953 - Sold to Western Alaska Airlines, Dillingham, Territory of Alaska, the Treasurer is listed as Albert Ball. This is when Western Alaska Airlines was formed.

5 October 1959 - Sold to Maurice E. Goff, Spenard AK

21 September 1959 - Replaced right aileron, repaired left aileron and left wing spar, no cause for damage given.

15 May 1961 - Overhaul accomplished including, recovering the fuselage and empennage with grade A fabric. Both lift struts were replaced with larger diameter tubing.

10 May 1963 - Both wings and ailerons were overhauled and recovered with Irish linen.

25 March 1976 - Sold to William and Nancy Magnuson, Anchorage AK

2 December 1991 - Sold to Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum.

2 April 1997 - The overhaul and complete recovering of the aircraft was completed by the staff and volunteers of the Alaska Aviation Heritage museum.

Present - N8159 is presently on display at the museum. N8159 is airworthy and could possibly be flown again.

N8159 has had a long and colorful career. It has been owned and operated by many famous and infamous pilots and airlines. It has been in many accidents and incidents and has carried hundreds of people and tons of cargo safely to their destinations. It is one of the finest examples of the aircraft that carried the United States into, what is referred to as, the Golden age of aviation.