Curtis Wright
Curtis Wright Trailers
History
1940 – 1949
Built in Baltimore, MD (1940-1943) and Los Angeles, CA (1944-1949).
Curtis Wright trailers are not to be confused with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation nor with Curtiss Aerocar trailers. Curtis Wright conventional trailers were produced by two different companies founded by a man named Curtis Wright, while Aerocar 5th wheel style trailers were designed by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and built by two separate companies, one named Curtiss Aerocar. The Curtiss-Wright Corporation never produced trailers but was formed in 1929 by the merger of aeronautical companies started by Glenn Curtiss and brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright.
Curtis Wright, whose birth name was Fabian Curtis Wright, was born in Wooster, Ohio in 1891. It appears he went by his middle name, Curtis, his entire adult life, even listing his name as “Curtis F. Wright” in the 1930 and 1950 censuses, though he sometimes appeared “F. Curtis Wright” in 1920s and 1930s newspaper stories.
Curtis Wright’s earliest aviation roots are mentioned in 1930s newspaper stories in the Brooklyn Times Union and Daily Eagle newspapers, though these details have not been independently corroborated. In those newspaper stories, Curtis Wright states that he built his first airplane at age 14 and flew it for the first time on his 15th birthday. He also noted that he was self-taught and not related to the Wright Brothers. Curtis said he enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1916 and then transferred to the American forces when the U.S. entered the war. He lost his right foot when it was shattered by bullets in combat but was able to safely land his plane and walked with a limp on an artificial foot ever since. He noted that he had also taught his wife and oldest daughter, Marjorie, to fly, making the incredible claim in one newspaper story, that Marjorie flew 240 miles solo on her 12th birthday to visit her grandmother.
By early 1927, Curtis Wright formed the Curtis Wright Aeronautical Corporation in Halfway, Michigan near Detroit. According to stories in the Detroit Free Press, this Curtis Wright company completed its first airplane, a four-passenger monoplane, in April 1927 and in late June 1927, two Curtis Wright monoplanes were entered in the Detroit Air Tour. According to a story in the Wilmington (Delaware) Morning News newspaper, this company was formally chartered in the State of Delaware on August 16, 1927, listing Curtis Wright’s wife Gladys Bernice Wright and his father Oliver Otis Wright of Wooster, OH as co-incorporators. Further stories and ads, mostly in the Detroit Free Press, indicate that this company was also offering pilot and mechanic training, operating an Air Taxi Service, and even sponsoring the Curtis Wright Flying Club at their Curtis Wright Airport in Halfway, Michigan. It appears the Curtis Wright Aeronautical Corporation ceased operations in late 1928 or early 1929 when mentions in the Detroit Free Press completely stopped.
According to another Wilmington Morning News newspaper story, on November 12, 1929, about two weeks after the 1929 stock market crash, F. Curtis Wright was one of three people to formally incorporate a new company, the Major Aircraft Corporation, in Brooklyn, NY. Newspaper stories in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and Brooklyn Times Union identify him as the chief engineer and general manager of that company, which was located at the Floyd Bennett Field Municipal Airport. Ads and stories in those Brooklyn newspapers indicate that Major Aircraft Corporation was operating a Trade School to train airplane mechanics, pilots, and engineers in addition to building airplanes, motorless gliders, and “powered” gliders. The company even started a flying club. Some ads looking for students/workers appeared in newspapers as far away as Baltimore, MD and Allentown, Philadelphia, and Scranton, PA. In July 1930, ads posted by Major Aircraft Corporation appear to cease in all newspapers.
1930 census documents confirm Curtis Wright and his wife were living in Brooklyn, NY with his profession listed as a flight instructor. F. Curtis Wright remained in Brooklyn building and flying his own airplanes at least until March 1933 when he was quoted in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper as stating the new regulations were making it cost prohibitive for amateur airplane builders to get their planes approved for flight in the state of New York and that he was no longer permitted to fly his self-built planes there. He noted that he was thinking of moving to Florida where the regulations were not as restrictive.
Curtis Wright’s whereabouts for the next seven years are currently unknown, but at some point he made a career transition from airplanes to building trailers and moved to Baltimore, MD. From April 1940 to December 1942, his Curtis Wright Trailers company posted ads in the Baltimore Sun and Baltimore Evening Sun newspapers. The factory address in those ads is 7404 Philadelphia Rd, Rosedale, MD, a suburb of Baltimore, and has been confirmed to also be Curtis Wright’s home address in 1941 thru 1943 Baltimore phone books. The newspaper ads generally offered a 16-foot house trailer starting at $395, but larger trailers were occasionally mentioned and could always be custom ordered. From January to December 1943, ads in the Baltimore Sun and Evening Sun newspapers ads did not use the company name Curtis Wright Trailers but indicate that new and used trailers sales and trailer repair services were still occurring at 7404 Philadelphia. Because the Baltimore phones books still list this as Curtis Wright’s address thru the end of 1943, it is assumed these ads were posted by him.
Family lore says that in 1944 Curtis Wright became enamored by the weather in southern California, so he loaded all his personal belongings and trailer equipment onto rail cars and moved everything to Los Angeles, CA by train. By July 1944, he had set up a new company called Curtis Wright Industries that soon had both a Trailer Division and an Aircraft Division. Over the next three years, the Aircraft Division developed a Flymobile 2-passenger helicopter and a Skypal 4-passenger pusher style airplane. At least one prototype of each is believed to have been built, but it is unlikely any of either model were actually sold to customers.
By September 1944, the Curtis Wright Industries Trailer Division was offering trailers that were very similar in shape and appearance to the models it produced in Baltimore and by 1945 they came in 18-foot and 22-foot single axle and 27-foot tandem axle versions. In October 1946 a similarly shaped 31-foot tandem model joined the Curtis Wright lineup and by September 1947, so did a similarly shaped 16-foot single axle model.
According to industry records, 1944 and 1945 Curtis Wright trailers had tempered Masonite exteriors similar to the wood or Masonite exteriors used on the earlier Baltimore built trailers, likely because wartime materials restrictions were still in place. In 1946, at least some models started receiving aluminum exterior skins and by 1948 all models had aluminum skins.
Though Curtis Wright initially only identified its trailers by length, by 1946 the company began applying names to its different models. The names used for these models in Curtis Wright ads evolved between 1946 and 1949 but trailer outward appearances did not change much.
Curtis Wright’s Trailer Division expanded quickly after WWII ended, going from one plant in 1944 and 1945 to two by January 1946 and to these four locations by July 1946:
- 1240 San Fernando Rd., Los Angeles, CA (typically called Plant 1)
- 740 Valley Blvd., Puente, CA (typically called Plant 2)
- 1621 Atlantic St., Los Angeles, CA (typically called Plant 3)
- 624 Gibbons St., Los Angeles (typically called plant 4)
An article in the July 1946 issue of Trail-R-News magazine stated that after two years of steady growth, Curtis Wright reached production leadership among west coast trailer producers noting that in the first half of 1946, Curtis Wright Industries delivered well over $1,000,000 worth of trailers to its 50 Curtis Wright dealers west of the Mississippi.
In mid to late 1945, Airstream founder Wally Byam joined the Trailer Division of Curtis Wright Industries. Wally Byam had shut down Airstream in 1941 and worked for Lockheed during the war years, but when the war ended, he was ready to re-enter the trailer market. Strong circumstantial evidence suggests Wally Byam designed the 14-foot Trail-R-Pal model for Curtis Wright, its first trailer that was advertised specifically for the “travel” or “vacation” part of the trailer market. The Trail-R-Pal looked unlike any other Curtis Wright trailer but exhibited a strong resemblance to the 1940-41 Airstream 14-foot Airlite with some significant improvements including use of a riveted aluminum construction with hybrid wood and aluminum framing within its aluminum exterior skin. A private letter suggests that Wally Byam received a commission on each unit built or sold.
Newspaper and magazine ads indicate the Trail-R-Pal was introduced in December 1945 as a 1946 model and was built until it was replaced in production for the 1947 model year by the Wally Byam designed, riveted aluminum, Clipper. The 22-foot (20-foot body) Curtis Wright Clipper was an evolution of the riveted aluminum Clipper that Airstream had produced from 1936 to 1941. Curtis Wright continued to produce the Clipper after Wally Byam left the company in early 1947 to restart Airstream. The majority of surviving Curtis Wright trailers are Trail-R-Pals and Clippers due to their superior materials and construction methods.
Magazine ads show the Curtis Wright trailer company had contracted to three operating plants by January 1947 and to just the Puente location by September 1947. Starting in August 1948, the Curtis Wright factory started posting ads in the L.A. Times newspaper to supplement ads posted by their dealers. At first these ads simply invited readers to visit the factory, but in March 1949 they began to indicate that you could purchase trailers direct from the factory, specifically noting that they still had several 1948 models to sell at big discounts. The last factory ad was published in the L.A. Times on April 9, 1949. The next day, on April 10, 1949, the Wershow Auction Company started posting ads in the L.A. Times to promote an April 18, 1949 auction at the Curtis Wright factory in Puente, including the sale of the property and building. This auction brought the Trailer Division of Curtis Wright Industries to an end.
When Curtis Wright closed, a new company that called itself Silver Streak acquired the rights and likely the tooling for the Clipper. By mid-May 1949, Silver Streak was already building the Clipper at a new factory in El Monte, CA and was advertising it for sale in the L.A. Times. Silver Streak was started by three men, Kenneth “Kenny” Neptune, Frank Polito, and James Victor “Pat” Patterson. All three were former Curtis Wright Trailer Division employees and Patterson was Curtis Wright’s son-in-law, the husband of his daughter Marjorie. Though direct evidence has not been found, we can speculate that Patterson’s influence may have helped arrange the deal. Since the factories were only 5 miles apart, it is likely that Silver Streak hired a lot of former Curtis Wright employees that were familiar with the Clipper design and construction methods thus enabling Silver Streak to begin building Clippers so quickly. In 1957, Patterson and another former Curtis Wright employee broke away from Silver Streak to start the Streamline Trailer company.
There is one last Curtis Wright product that is worth mentioning, though it never went into production. From late January thru mid-March 1949, stories and ads in a variety of newspapers promoted a car called the Curtis Wright Utility Sedan that was to be built by a Curtis Wright Automobile Co. in a factory in the Los Angeles suburb of Los Alamitos, CA. This factory had previously belonged to the Los Alamitos Sugar Co., for the processing of sugar beets. On January 31, 1949, a story in the Long Beach Press-Telegram noted that production was expected to begin within 60 to 90 days and showed the photo of one prototype that had been built. Ads and stories in a variety of California newspapers between March 12 and March 19, 1949, again showed an image of the Utility Sedan which was said to feature a “lifetime plastic top” and a “one piece plastic hood”. These ads invited the public to come see that car at various locations in cities and towns from Bakersfield to Fresno, CA where it would be on display. They also actively sought dealers for the Utility Sedan. Plans for this product appear to have ceased shortly after March 19, 1949, as no further newspaper stories or ads for it appear in California newspapers.
Perhaps after the closing of the Trailer Division and the halting of plans to manufacture the Utility Sedan, Curtis Wright opted to retire. In any case, no information has been found to indicate any further business pursuits after April 1949. Curtis Wright passed away in 1956, at age 65.
This history provided by:
Joe Peplinski
Airstream Club (WBCCI/ACI) Historian
Vintage Airstream Club (VAC) Historian
Years built
1940 – 1949
Trailer Models
- 1940 – 1943 in Baltimore
- 16 ft Standard model
- Other lengths by custom order
- 1944 – 1949 in Los Angeles (with model names and model numbers, when known)
- 16 ft Trailercoach/Travel Trailer (Models 1 & 3)
- 18 ft Standard
- 22 ft Standard/Deluxe/Cutter (also Model 1)
- 27 ft (tandem) Deluxe/Flagship (Model 6)
- 31 ft (tandem) Superdeluxe/Cruiser
- 14 ft Trail-R-Pal (Models 2 & 4)
- 22 ft Clipper (Models 5 & F7)
- 28 ft Deluxe Clipper
Registry, Clubs, and Other Useful Links
The Curtis Wright Registry once run by Cliff Uyeda is not being maintained and it prior contents were lost in a computer crash. If you are an owner of a Curtis Wright, and want to add to the Curtis Wright knowledge base, please post photos and information about your Curtis Wright trailer on the Curtis Wright Trailers Facebook page which is as close to a Curtis Wright Registry as there currently is.
Curtis Wright Trailers Facebook Public Group: click here
If you’d like a Curtis Wright Registry decal – contact Dal Smilie @ dalsmilie@aol.com
Since the early 2000’s, Curtis Wright trailers have been allowed in the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI)/Airstream Club International (ACI) and the Vintage Airstream Club (VAC) because of Airstream founder Wally Byam’s time working at Curtis Wright. This courtesy is not extended to Silver Streak Clippers because Wally Byam never worked for Silver Streak.
Airstream Club International (ACI)/Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI): click here
Vintage Airstream Club (VAC): click here
Another place to chat about Curtis Wright trailers is on AirForums under “Vintage Kin”: click here
1920s and 1930s (Pre-Trailer) Ads, Articles, and Photos
Curtis Wright Aeronautical Corporation, Halfway, Michigan
May 1, 1927 – Detroit Free Press
August 17, 1927 – Wilmington Morning News
August 27, 1927 – Detroit Free Press
September 18, 1927 – Detroit Free Press
October 23, 1927 – Detroit Free Press
January 26, 1928 – Battle Creek Enquirer
Major Aircraft Corporation, Brooklyn New York
November 13, 1929 – Wilmington Morning News
November 16, 1929 – Brooklyn Daily Eagle
February 10, 1930 – Brooklyn Times Union
March 10, 1930 – Brooklyn Times Union
May 25, 1930 – Brooklyn Times Union
June 1, 1930 – Baltimore Sun
June 23, 1930 – Brooklyn Times Union
June 30, 1930 – Brooklyn Times Union
Post Major Aircraft, Brooklyn, New York
March 5, 1933 – Brooklyn Daily Eagle
March 5, 1933 – Brooklyn Daily Eagle
1940s Trailer Ads, Articles, and Photos
Curtis Wright Trailers, Baltimore, Maryland
Curtis Wright Trailers Brass Plaque
Curtis Wright Trailers – 7404 Philadelphia Rd., Baltimore, MD – December 1941
Curtis Wright Trailers – 7404 Philadelphia Rd., Baltimore, MD – March 30, 1942
April 27, 1940 – Baltimore Evening Sun
April 27, 1940 – Baltimore Evening Sun
October 6, 1940 – Baltimore Sun
November 25, 1941 – Baltimore Evening Sun
April 25, 1942 – Baltimore Sun
November 11, 1942 – Baltimore Sun
December 2, 1942 – Baltimore Sun
August 28, 1943 – Baltimore Evening Sun
Curtis Wright Industries, Los Angeles, California
December 2, 1944 – San Francisco Examiner
1945, 1948, and 1949 Curtis Wright Listings in the Official Trailer Coach Guide
March 19, 1945 – San Fernando Valley Times
October 7, 1945 – Arizona Republic
January 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 24-25
January 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 41
February 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 24-45
April 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 28-29
May 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 34-35
June 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 38-39
July 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 30-31
August 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 36-37
September 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 2-3
October 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 3
November 1946 – Trailer Travel – Pg TBD
November 1946 – Trail-R-News – Pg 25
1947 Curtis Wright Clipper Brochure
January 1947 – Trail-R-News – Pg 2
February 1947 – Trail-R-News – Pg 85
March 1947 – Trailer Topics– Pg 48
April 1947 – Trailer Travel – Pg 22
April 1947 – Trail-R-News – Pg TBD
May 1947 – Trail-R-News – Pg 62-63
August (est.) 1947 – Trail-R-News – Pg TBD
September 1947 – Trail-R-News – Pg 21
October 1947 – Trail-R-News – Pg 106-107
November 1947 – Trail-R-News – Pg 36
December 1947 – Trail-R-News – Pg 40
December 1947 – Trail-R-News – Pg 92
January 1948 – Trail-R-News – Pg 99
February 1948 – Trail-R-News – Pg 45
March 1948 – Trail-R-News – Pg 42-43
April 1948 – Trail-R-News – Pg 124-125
July 1948 – Trail-R-News – Pg 37
Mid-1948 – Trail-R-News – Pg 98
Mid 1948 – Trail-R-News – Pg TBD
November 1948 – Trail-R-News – Pg 51
January 1949 – Trail-R-News – Pg 75
March 1949 – Trail-R-News – Pg 81
March 21, 1949 – L.A. Times
April 7, 1949 – L.A. Times
April 10, 1949 – L.A. Times
Flymobile, Sky-Pal, and Utility Sedan
August 1945 – Curtis Wright and Flymobile
1946 – Sky-Pal and Flymobile Images
March 22, 1946 – Appleton (WI) Post Crescent
April 19, 1946 – West Los Angeles Independent
April 26, 1946 – West Los Angeles Independent
June 21, 1946 – Covina Argus
May 1947 – Sky-Pal image
January 31, 1949 – Long Beach Press-Telegram
March 12, 1949 – Fresno Bee
March 15, 1949 – Tulare (CA) Advance-Register
March 15, 1949 – Visalia (CA) Times-Delta
March 17, 1949 – Hanford (CA) Morning Journal
March 19, 1949 – Bakersfield Californian
Owner Pictures
Model 1
Here is the trailer we just bought back when it wasn’t a project. Chris Chapman and I will go down and get it in early Nov
Here is the earliest known Airstream cousin, the 1946 Model 1 Curtis Wright with its family. Prior to being parked in 1961 after they jackknifed and rolled their Ford Galaxie on its side after hitting a bull in Oregon. I wish it were in this good of shape now.
Here is #429 back in its day
Here’s a couple more trailer pictures. Lots of memories, sycamore flats and camp 15 in Yosemite. That’s a ’49 ford in the first picture. If one could blow up- Enlarge- the license plate it might tell the registration date. When we drove from Yosemite to Manhattan Beach we had to go over the Tejon Pass (Grapevine south of Bakersfield) and the ford only had about 50-55 horse power…so we always boiled. Dad rigged up a system ( ten gallon water tank in the trunk with a perforated copper pipe over the radiator and me pumping a large bicycle pump to put pressure into the tank and squirt water onto the radiator, thereby keeping the system from boiling….an us having to stop, on the side of the road, till the temp went down. It was a two lane road up over the summit with trucks in theft lane and invariably a VW Bug would pull out in front of dad and he would have to slow down and ,,,,,,,,you guessed it. The car boiled and we had to pull over, sometimes till nite fall and cooler temps. I’ll keep looking for photos.
Tried to edit the photo to get better clarity. Looks like De Ette is about two years old, therefore 1949 to 1950. The car was pretty new at that time since it is a 1949 Ford.
Model 2
Find more info and other owners on Facebook for Curtis Wright Model 2. Let everyone know you found this link on Tin Can Tourists!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/655580971216444/
Rob & Shari Davis rob@insideout-design.net shari@insideout-design.net, 1946 Model 2, Serial 5656, Evergreen, Colorado. Former owners.
Jody O’dell jodyodel@hotmail.com, Model 2, serial 5047, Folsom, CA. Earliest SN found so far. Visit webpage for more info on this trailer: http://www.ourtincan.com
Before: 
After: 
Don Connell diggerdude@bluefrog.com, Model 2, serial 5419, Newark, New York
Brad Taylor merc52man@comcast.net, Model 2, serial 5496, Salem OR
James Wright Model 2, serial 5286 pics soon
Steve Hingtgen Model 2, serial 5061. Complete restoration with only minor mods. Uncommon original steel Hehr Standard windows on sides rather than more typical slider windows. (Only steel version of Hehr Standard windows known. The earliest occurrence of Hehr Standard windows known.) Photos available in an album on Vintage Trailer Supply’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.706682689361444.1073741834.107409222622130
Model 3
The only Model 3 Curtis Wright known.
More pictures of this trailer: http://www.uyeda.net/
Model 4
The only known model 4
Model 5
Nathan Stephens: Woodland, CA, nhs@usa.net: 1947 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8015
Mark Darch: S.W. Missouri, markedarch@gmail.com: Model 5, Serial 8036
Stephan Bolliger, stephan.bolliger@bluewin.ch: owner from Switzerland;1947 Curtis Wright, Modell 5, Serial 8039,
Mike Armbrust: Chula Vista, CA, mike@chulavistaphoto.com: 1947 Curtis Wright, MOdel 5, Serial 8054
Cliff Uyeda, cuyeda@outlook.com: 1947 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8060, Long Beach,CA Please contact me if you are an owner. I would like to exchange info on history, and restoration tips.
Bill Speaker: Tipton, MI, SPYTIMES@aol.com: 1947 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8081
Chris and Pat Huotari: 1947 Curtis Wright pictured in “Silver Palaces” by Douglas Keister, pg.98
Robert Lau:Silverthorne CO, robertflau@gmail.com: 1947 Curtis Wright Model 5, Serial 8086
Ed Francisco: edinla90703@yahoo.com,Cerritos, CA, 1947 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8090
Mark Olson, molsons@telus.net: 1947 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8102
*Owner unknown: 1947 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8103
Bill and Candy Fisher billcanfish@gmail.com: 1947 Model 5, Serial 8124,
Philip Dillon, philip_usa@yahoo.com: 1947 Model 5, Serial 8160
Robert Jarrett bobbyjarrett@juno.com 1947 Model 5, Serial 8168 Fully restored.
Dal Smilie, dalsmilie@aol.com: 1949 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8225
Kevin Barnes 1947 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8251
*1948 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8253, now in the UK, owners Suzie and Dani, currently being restored
Bob And Linda Bryan, rbryan@citlink.net, 1948 Curtis Wright Model 5, Serial 8254 Has a dealer emblem: R-K Trailer Co., St. Joseph, MO, Topeka, KS, Booneville, MO
George Sikat, georgesikat@gmail.com:1949 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8265 In Alaska, On Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/1941CurtisWright.Model5
Mark Frey, ohjeeze00@yahoo.com:1949 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8279
Jeremy Burmeister, frockman@gmail.com: Curtis wright Model 5, serial 8283
*Owner unknown: 1949 Curtis Wright, Model 5, Serial 8560
2-22-08. For more exterior and interior photos of the believed Model 5 prototype and a very early production Model 5 Clipper, see my 8 page article in the Spring 2008 issue of Airstream Life magazine, www.airstreamlife.com. If you do not subscribe, this issue will soon be available in certain book stores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders. Enjoy! Fred Coldwell, VAC Historian & Airstream Life “Old Aluminum Adventures” columnist.
Dayton Taylor, owner of 1949 Curtis Wright, FULLY restored, available FOR SALE on www.VintageTrailerCrazy.com
Amie French & Rich Simpson, simpsonbuilds@gmail.com, Owners of unknown year Curtis Wright, very rough still but plans to restore, Model 5 Serial 8177….photos pending
Rafe Tomsett, Sonoma, CA strafe55@icloud.com, 1947 Curtis -Wright Model 5 #8106
MODEL 6
In restoration process. Will be a frame off project. Serial #7132
http://theladyinthestonehouse.blogspot.com/2016/04/you-can-call-me-lucy.html
Model F7
Steve Bittner, herkypig@hotmail.com, Curtis Wright model F7, Serial 8263
Magazine photos
Curtis Wright Trailer Travel Magazine December 1946
A Linco Level- Load installed on a Curtis-Wright Trailer Travel Magazine April 1947
