The Type R “Mystery Ships” were a series of wire-braced, low-wing racing airplanes built by the Travel Air Company in the late 1920s and early 1930s in Wichita, Kansas. They were so called, because the first three aircraft of the series (R614K, R613K, B11D) were built entirely in secrecy. In ttal, five Type Rs were built and flown by some of the most notable flyers of the day, including Jmmy Doolittle, Doug Davis, Frank Hawks, and Pancho Barnes, not only in races but also at air shows across the United States, and most notably, by Hawks in Europe.
