Art Goebel Phillips Travel Air Model 5000 Woolaroc

Additional Information:

The Travel Air 5000 was a high-wing monoplane airliner and racing plane with conventional landing gear. The fuselage was constructed of welded steel tubing. The cockpit was fully enclosed with a canopy above the forward fuselage and was designed by Clyde Cessna. The plane is mostly remembered for being the winner of the disastrous Dole Air Race from California to Hawaii in 1927.

Arthur Cornelius Goebel, Jr., known as Art Goebel (October 19, 1895 – December 3, 1973) was an American aviation pioneer, aerobatic pilot, and film actor born and raised in Belen, New Mexico. From 16 to 17 August 1927, Goebel won the Dole Air Race, one of the first non-stop flights from the American continent to Hawaii.

Inspired by Charles Lindbergh’s first successful solo crossing of the Atlantic, pineapple magnate James Dole offered a prize for the first nonstop flight from Oakland to Honolulu in Hawaii in 1927. The resulting competition, which experienced many losses, was known in aviation history as the Dole Air Race.

Arthur Goebel took part in the competition with his navigator William V. Davis flying a modified Travel Air 5000, NX869, called the “Woolaroc” owned by Phillips Petroleum Company. After a flight time of 26 hours and 15 minutes, they were the first to complete the flight distance of 2,405 miles and won the prize of 25,000 US dollars.

After his success in the 1927 Dole Air Race, he continued to participate in flying competitions. In 1928, he made the first non-stop crossing of the United States from West (Los Angeles) to East (Long Island) flying a Lockheed Vega 5B called the “Yankee Doodle”.

Goebel and the Woolaroc was also a frequent visitor to Oxnard Field in the 1930s.

Art Goebel is on the right with his navigator Bill Davis for the Dole Air Race.

The Travel Air 5000 Woolaroc is on display at the Woolaroc Museum near Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

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