It seems to me that the final paragraph of the "interview" is illustrated in Evans & Kiner's "Tram": the book's photograph section has a picture of Whiteman posing in front of what looks suspiciously like a late 1920s Travelair bi-plane, with the Whiteman Potato Head stuck on the side. Another picture on the same page shows several Whiteman players posing with a bi-plane. The book dates both photos to 1930.