Took a ride in a different kind of Ford today

[OT18]

Flew in it last summer; check one off the bucket list.

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[fossil]

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.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news...i-motor-airplane-to-give-living-history-rides

 

[johnny99]

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news...i-motor-airplane-to-give-living-history-rides

Nice article, thank you. Knocked a couple memories loose.

 

[RCollins]

Somewhere in the dusty archives of black and white newsreels, there is one of a TriMotor being flown by a daring pilot who did a loop over the runway. He was at low altitude to start with and at the bottom end of the loop, he bounced off the runway. If he was two feet lower, he would have wadded the thing up in a burning heap of tin.

 

[Noahma]

What’s the GPM?

It burns 25 gal. per hour of Aviation fuel lol. Probably not the best mielage....

 

[Noahma]

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.

EAA's Tri-Motor is meticulously maintained and inspected. It has been rebuilt twice. The first time after an accident just prior to EAA's purchase. And then once later on to do a full airframe inspection and restoration. I have pretty good faith in EAA's ability to keep the bird in the air. The only group I would probably never ride with would be the Collings foundation. They screwed the pooch on the maintenance of 909 (B-17) and it cost the lives of their crew and passengers. They had a MAG go out on takeoff, which was known about.

 

[Noahma]

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.

It was an absolutely smooth landing. The pilot had previously flown 777's for United. He said the Tri-motor was a dream to fly.

I have not quite yet been able to pull the trigger to get my private certificate. It is on my long list of things to do. I have been an aviation nut since I could say the word Airplane. I have lived a few miles from KBJC (Rocky Mountain Metro) most of my life and have seen some incredible planes. There is also a Warbird museum to the south in Colorado Springs that has a Buffalo produced Corsair and a P-38 both flying, and incredible to watch.

I have told my wife that my retirement plan is to get my private cert. and spend the weekends flying. Hopefully it can come to fruition. So far I have a nephew that just had his first Solo, I can get my fix by flying with him.

 

[Noahma]

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

They are flying 2 of them at the moment. the 1929 is here in the West, and the 1928 is up in the north east.

 

[Noahma]

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

Love that guys channel lol. My favorite quote "it will be fine....."

 

[Noahma]

Very cool!

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

If you get a chance to do it!!! They wont be flying forever. I have a few others on my bucket list to take a ride in. One of them I have to get in sooner than later, there are only 3 B-17's still flying in the US, and that one is a dream ride I MUST do at some point. There are also only 2 B-29's (Doc and Fifi) and a dozen or so B-25's. All three are on my bucket list of warbirds to fly in. The Ford was not as high on the list as the prevous 3. There is nothing like the sound of a Radial engine, just pure music.

 

[RCollins]

I had a ride in the Goodyear blimp. That was fun. It was while the Little League World Series was being played nearby.

 

[K5Blazer]

If you get a chance to do it!!! They wont be flying forever. I have a few others on my bucket list to take a ride in. One of them I have to get in sooner than later, there are only 3 B-17's still flying in the US, and that one is a dream ride I MUST do at some point. There are also only 2 B-29's (Doc and Fifi) and a dozen or so B-25's. All three are on my bucket list of warbirds to fly in. The Ford was not as high on the list as the prevous 3. There is nothing like the sound of a Radial engine, just pure music.

I had the chance for both a B-17 and a B-24 ride at Eielson AFB once.

The price for a ride on either was $300.
I passed.

The best ride I ever had was in a friends medical helicopter, (Bell 212?), being taken back to the hanger for servicing. The pilot was a VNam vet.

He took off like being shot out of a cannon, felt like we were staring straight down at the ground during takeoff. We cruised about 15-20’ off the deck for about 15 minutes, following the land contours, which was incredible.
Right before we got to the LZ he increased altitude several hundred feet and then landed nose down like we were dropping in by parachute before flairing at the last second for touchdown. I’ve never seen footage like what he did with that machine.[/QUOTE]

 

[Noahma]

I had the chance for both a B-17 and a B-24 ride at Eielson AFB once.

The price for a ride on either was $300.
I passed.

The best ride I ever had was in a friends medical helicopter, (Bell 212?), being taken back to the hanger for servicing. The pilot was a VNam vet.

He took off like being shot out of a cannon, felt like we were staring straight down at the ground during takeoff. We cruised about 15-20’ off the deck for about 15 minutes, following the land contours, which was incredible.
Right before we got to the LZ he increased altitude several hundred feet and then landed nose down like we were dropping in by parachute before flairing at the last second for touchdown. I’ve never seen footage like what he did with that machine.

[/QUOTE]

That is awesome. I could only imagine what my wife or daughter would have done in that situation. We took a tourist heli ride in Maui several years ago and the pilot (Heli pilots are built different) laughed, asked if anyone was afraid of heights, and when no one responded proceeded to drop us off a cliff down 3000' before halting the decent. I was laughing maniacally, my wife and daughter about poo'd their pants lol.

I am hoping to get a flight in Either the B-17 named "Sentimental Journey" or "Aluminum Overcast" My father brought me to each of them when I was 10 and 11. The Bombardier seat is about 480 for the 30 min. flight. I figure its a once in lifetime experience. The FAA almost grounded all flying B-17's this year over a potential wing spar issue. The tooling no longer exists to remake them, and Boeing no longer has the capability to machine them either. Apparently they are about 20' long, and the actual aluminum tubing tapers as it reaches the end. After doing inspections on the 4 remaining flying (3 in the US and 1 in Europe) they were found to be in good condition, and the one that caused the issue was replaced with one from one of the few donor planes left.

 

[LSchicago]

Very cool. I've only seen one. It's at the Henry Ford Museum.

 

[fossil]

He took off like being shot out of a cannon, felt like we were staring straight down at the ground during takeoff. We cruised about 15-20’ off the deck for about 15 minutes, following the land contours, which was incredible.
Right before we got to the LZ he increased altitude several hundred feet and then landed nose down like we were dropping in by parachute before flairing at the last second for touchdown. I’ve never seen footage like what he did with that machine.

Nice!
In the Army I worked on existing and prototype night vision devices, MOS NVSETA. Our stable had all the current at the time tracked vehicles and trucks for which I needed drivers licenses and 1ea Huey, Cobra and a OV1D Mohawk for which I had to do ejection school, my aching back. My duties required maintaining/testing devices on all the above.
Your story made me remember the one Cobra ride along I did with a show off pilot, better than any roller coaster with no loops thank goodness. Simulated gun runs were pretty intense.

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