Aircraft model
CURTISS WRIGHT TRAVEL AIR 4000
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Travel Air 4000 is a 1920s open-cockpit biplane from the company Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman founded together before each went his own way. It seats two passengers in the front cockpit and the pilot behind, and it was used for barnstorming, mail flying and early airline work.
It is a genuine antique rather than a warbird, and it is bought by people who want specifically that. Ownership means a 1920s radial with a parts base that exists only through restorers and the antique aircraft community, a wood-and-fabric structure requiring hangarage and periodic recovering, and bracing wires to inspect. Engine fit varies enormously across surviving aircraft — from the original Curtiss OX-5 to various Wright and Continental radials — so what the registry says and what is fitted are often different.
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Put CURTISS WRIGHT TRAVEL AIR 4000 side by side with up to two other models.
- CURTISS WRIGHT TRAVEL AIR 4000
What it is
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Wright J-5 (radial) |
| Horsepower | 220 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1927 |
| Production end | 1930 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 85 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 300 nm |
| Service ceiling | 14,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 700 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 42 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 950 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 698 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,400 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,450 lb |
| Usable fuel | 42 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 12.3 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $90,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $220,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $55,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $95,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 80 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 55 |
| Median year built | 1928.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 36.36 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 18.18 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 7 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 12.73 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 55 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 55 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 55 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.4 of 103 |
| Support | 2.4 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.9 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 28.36 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 11.65.
- Access: class median 767.75.
- Support: class median 141.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.57.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.