Took a ride in a different kind of Ford today

[Noahma]

I have been an Aviation enthusiast as long as I could say "airplane" and today we took a ride in a Tin Goose. A 1929 Ford Tri-Motor! What a great experience. Probably the smoothest landing I have ever experienced. I guess it should be with a plane that has a max. of 98 knots (113mph).

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[Maverickman74]

Love that interior!!!!

 

[Azmig88]

What’s the GPM?

 

[RCollins]

Kermit Weeks had a TriMotor that was damaged in a Hurricane. He sent the wreckage to a specialist in Michigan who had the necessary tooling to fabricate the complicated curved and tapered corrugated skin parts. On disassembly, he showed Kermit that for him to have continued flying that plane there might have been a main spar failure. And it would have failed in a place that was impossible to inspect unless major disassembly was undertaken. These planes are nearing 100 years of age and the metallurgy was not what it is in planes manufactured more recently.

 

[johnny99]

Precious few remaining. IIRC the one remaining flying the islands in western Lake Erie went down maybe 30 years ago. I think it might have been recovered and restored.

 

[OkayJasper]

VERY cool - thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[SLINGSHOT]

Lucky you. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Oscarcat]

WOW - looks like a fun time. A smooth landing in that tail dragger is an art. [C172 ppl here. Home airport CLD. Started late in life.] I have seen tri-motor Fords on display in aero museum but never one that is still flying. I can't imagine the skills required to keep 3 engines in sync with 3 throttle controls, etc. etc. Aviation has come such a long way as have motor vehicles. I can justify using autopilot in the air. I don't think I will ever be comfortable with self-driving cars.

 

[Red Ryder]

Love that interior!!!!

Zinc Chromate is beautiful.

 

[CTYankee]

I once took a flight from JFK to Oxford (CT) via Pilgrim Airlines. Imagine my surprise when I got off a commercial jetliner at JFK and walked up to a Ford Tri-motor. But it was unique and fun and a memory I've kept for 50 years.

 

[flyking1]

Is that the EAA Tri-Moter? I took a ride in it about 10 years ago at Airventure.

 

[Deral]

Kermit Weeks had a TriMotor that was damaged in a Hurricane. He sent the wreckage to a specialist in Michigan who had the necessary tooling to fabricate the complicated curved and tapered corrugated skin parts. On disassembly, he showed Kermit that for him to have continued flying that plane there might have been a main spar failure. And it would have failed in a place that was impossible to inspect unless major disassembly was undertaken. These planes are nearing 100 years of age and the metallurgy was not what it is in planes manufactured more recently.

If I remember correctly there was a collaborative effort between Kal-Aero (that specialist in Michigan) and the EAA at the time. I think the EAA had some jigs but not all of the parts to make the missing pieces. (They had one to rebuild also.)

 

[FriscoTXJoe]

Kermit Weeks had a TriMotor that was damaged in a Hurricane. He sent the wreckage to a specialist in Michigan who had the necessary tooling to fabricate the complicated curved and tapered corrugated skin parts. On disassembly, he showed Kermit that for him to have continued flying that plane there might have been a main spar failure. And it would have failed in a place that was impossible to inspect unless major disassembly was undertaken. These planes are nearing 100 years of age and the metallurgy was not what it is in planes manufactured more recently.

Great, thanks for raining on my parade plans. I was going to find one at a local junkyard and rehab it enough to fly down the street and take off for a spin.

Debbie Downer.......


/s

 

[RCollins]

Great, thanks for raining on my parade plans. I was going to find one at a local junkyard and rehab it enough to fly down the street and take off for a spin.

Debbie Downer.......


/s

Well, Just think like Jimmy Webb (Jimmy's World~ aviation related you tube channel). His motto is "What could possibly go wrong."

 

[K5Blazer]

Very cool!

Never ridden in any older planes like that but I love the sound they make flying around.

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