Original photo caption:

Howard Morey stands alongside the first enclosed cabin passenger plane he brought to Madison in 1928 for service between Madison and Chicago, Illinois, USA. While passengers rode in the cabin, the pilot sat in the open cockpit. Howard Morey built Pennco airport in Madison and Morey Airport in Middleton, Wisconsin, USA, and later managed Madison Municipal Airport. In 1927 he formed Royal Airways to provide service between Madison and Chicago. The Morey Airplane Company still operated at Middleton Airport.

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10/01/2005. Remarks by Gil Halpin: "The mystery photo appears to be a 1927 Travelaire 5000 with a Wright J-5 Radial, as in The Woolaroc and Oklahoma Entrants in the 1927 Dole Air Derby."

10/01/2005. Remarks by Malcolm Lowe: "The aircraft in this photo is a Travel Air 5000. Travel Air was the direct predecessor of the famous company Beechcraft, and made a number of light aircraft in the 1920s. The Model 5000 was a much more ambitious project, however, and two of the Model 5000s became famous for their participation in a race (the Dole Race) from Oakland, California, to Wheeler Field, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, in 1927. The two Travel Airs were named 'Oklahoma' and 'Woolaroc', the latter winning the race. It was no mean feat to cover that sort of distance in 1927! The main user of the Model 5000 was the airline National Air Transport, although by the looks of this photo the type also found its way to smaller operators."

Contributor John Jenkins is co-author with his wife Marilynn, of 'The Howard Morey Story: A Saga of Wisconsin Aviation'.