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Travel Air 2000 Tribute

gonefishing250c@gmail.com Photos by Ted Burwell; gonefishing250c@gmail.com

Ted Burwell’s (Casa Grande, Arizona) story begins with an old news article that was sent to him by his 90-year-old grandmother. “She thought it would interest me because it was written about my great uncle, who was a police inspector and a World War I pilot,” he said. “As a retired sheriff’s deputy and a private pilot, I immediately felt the connection.” The article, dated August 20, 1934, was in the Evening Independent Newspaper of Massillon, Ohio, and reported on the tragic circumstances that led to Ted’s uncle’s death.

On the afternoon of August 18, John E. Burwell and his flight instructor, Al Meyer, took off from Massillon’s Cherry Hill Airport. “It’s believed that they intended to practice some maneuvers that my uncle flew in the war,” Ted stated.

According to witnesses, the airplane entered an inverted spin that exerted enough centrifugal force on both pilots to break their “rope-woven” seatbelts, causing them to be ejected from the airplane and fall to their deaths. The airplane crashed approximately 400 yards away. “Given my uncle’s occupation, rumors of foul play spread quickly, but no evidence was discovered to support the suspicions.” The crash gained national attention with articles in the New York Times and the May 1936 edition of Popular Science.

Motivated by the need for more information, Ted contacted a friend, Don Thomson, in an attempt to identify the make and model of the aircraft. Ted noted that Don is also a retired law enforcement officer and a commercial pilot who, as a lifelong modeler, builds and flies RC airplanes at the Dallas Wingdingers field in Dallas, Oregon.

After reviewing the few available crash photos, Don was able to identify the airplane as a Travel Air 2000 powered by a Curtiss OX-5 liquid-cooled engine. With that information, they located a set of plans on the AMA Plans Service website. Don offered to build the model in honor of Ted’s uncle. “I jumped at the idea,” Ted said. The display model has a 33-inch wingspan and a classic fabric and butyrate dope finish.

Ted learned that the Massillon Museum (massillonmuseum.org) has a small collection of artifacts, including memorabilia and photos of the crash, and the museum archivist expressed an interest in adding the airplane model to its display. “I felt that it would be an appropriate tribute to my Great Uncle John.”

The museum placed the Travel Air 2000 model on display in August 2025.