Topic: FORD TRI MOTOR

[zzpete]

  I just saw this plane fly right by my house. Of course I didn't have a camera but my daughter caught this with her phone. I zoomed in on it so the quality isn't so good. It was the slowest moving "BIG" plane I ever saw and it sounded bad ass!!

[BeSeeingYou]

have you seen this thread.  You will find  several shots of the Ford Trimotor.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=63187.0

[zzpete]

Thanks I would of posted it there had I know. I was in the back yard with the grand kid when I heard the radial engines. I saw one at a museum before but never thought I'd see one flying.

[Damfino]

My dad started out working for American Airlines at Midway Field in Chicago during the early fifties. During the early sixties as O'Hare opened up, he was transferred there, and it was not long after that that American was flying one of those tri-motors around the country on an exhibition tour.

The cool thing about it, is that it was originally an American Airlines Flagship from the 1930's that was found in the Mexican desert with a family living in it. It was fully restored and sent on that cross country tour, and I think today it resides in the C.R. Smith Museum in Texas. I believe I have some old 8mm film or photos around here of it's time spent at O'Hare.  


Edit: Found this online after posting....

American Airlines bought one of the Ford Trimotor that had been in use by American Airways thirty years earlier and fully restored to its 1929 working condition.

It was presented to the Smithsonian for exhibition in the National Air and Space Museum.

[zzpete]

  COOL! I live 9 miles from Midway and about 20 miles from O'hare so occasionally you see some wild aircraft. Last year around this time I had a Douglas DC-2 (the D-Day parachute planes I think) fly right over my house low and slow. The thing had to be under 1000 feet, I stood there in my driveway in awe! The sound from the engines is awesome. Last week when Obama was in town I had some badass attack copters do a flyby. Vintage aircraft are definitely
KICK ASS!!

[hoodellyhoo]

living in Oshkosh deffinitely has it's perks (EAA convention every summer). They have a B-17 and a Trimotor that can be see flying around all the time. They offer speciall "fall colors" airplane rides that I would love to do sometime.

[zzpete]

living in Oshkosh deffinitely has it's perks (EAA convention every summer). They have a B-17 and a Trimotor that can be see flying around all the time. They offer speciall "fall colors" airplane rides that I would love to do sometime.

Thanks for the tip. I will check it out. I'm not too far away (Chicago).

[hoodellyhoo]

living in Oshkosh deffinitely has it's perks (EAA convention every summer). They have a B-17 and a Trimotor that can be see flying around all the time. They offer speciall "fall colors" airplane rides that I would love to do sometime.

Thanks for the tip. I will check it out. I'm not too far away (Chicago).

I was on the EAA website a month ago and among other atractions this summer they want to do the last big gathering of flying DC-3's. Would certainly be neat to see, especially if they do any kind of formation flying.

[Damfino]

I love those old DC-3's.   

[Damfino]

Cool picture of the cockpit....

[Don R]

puff the magic dragon

[demon78]

Dakota ( Dak ) the one, us airmen ( RCAF ) felt safe in flying in, the only time they would crash ( prang) is pilot error, and they're still been used today, not bad for 1932 design, if you think that owning a vintage bike is expensive, imagine owning a DC 3-Dak would cost.
Bill the demon.

[KeithTurk]

The life of a pilot has radically changed over the years...  Back in the day you truly flew by the seat of your pants and every plane had it's own  character.... it's trim and so on...

Manufacturing tolerances and electronics have removed the requirement for any actual skill being required to fly.  Back in the Day.... you had to be able to wiggle sticks.... it's what us pilot kind of guys did.... now.... you simply sit back and let the thing fly itself to the next rendezvous with the ground,   pick up the herd of pig's and rice and then go do it again.

[slabbedask]

Being a model builder, I love classic airplanes! Of course the Spitfire is the prettiest ever....
But when it comes to airliners, nothing comes close to a polished DC-3....!

[demon78]

Careful Slabbedask when it comes to polished DC 3's I remember polishing A/C with "Neverdull" mostly Lancasters, yes it would give them about 3-4 knts faster but it was a job that never stopped, the great thing about it was occasionally our CO would walk into the hangar on a sunny Friday afternoon and say when you guys finish polishing that A/C "stand down" for the weekend except duty crew, and they would get done in record time, everyone likes a shiny plane but not everyone likes polishing them (even a little A/C fells big when you're polishing it.
Bill the demon.

[hoodellyhoo]

I had to laugh when I was watching the news the other day. I saw a DC-3 with a turboprop conversion spreading oil dispersant in the gulf. Amazing how these old planes are still out there getting the job done.

[gerhed]

Here's a bomber--a very famous one--maybe infamous.
<a href="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u251/gearheaded_photos/bomber.swf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u251/gearheaded_photos/bomber.swf</a>

[slabbedask]

B-17? B-29....?

[Retro Rocket]

Enola Gaye....

Mick

[dave500]

beat me to it mick,,hey whats this button for?whoops!!boooom

[demon78]

Dave we called it "hangar flying" and were warned repeatedly not to do it, particularly after some idiot closed the flaps on one of our A/C and almost cut a "riggers" fingers off and yes I know "riggers" are a dime a dozen, but still. (inside "fitter" joke).
Bill the demon.

[SohRon]

I took a trip to the Grand Canyon early in May, and as we were driving through Valle, Arizona, I spied the "Planes of Fame" Air Museum from the road and pulled over. It's an auxiliary to the museum in Chino, Ca. and is very nicely done, with a lot of cool exhibits from WW1 through Iraq. As I was watching two mechanics working on a T-38, a staff member walked up to me and said, "If you're interested, there's a Ford Tri-motor just preparing for take-off outside. I think you can catch him if you hurry". I jogged outside in time to catch this video of the Tri-motor doing its run. you can just see him in the distance as he lifts off. The end of the video shows some of the jets waiting for restoration... I'd never seen a Vampire before, so that was a treat.


http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=8_J8EgFik6s

[zzpete]

I took a trip to the Grand Canyon early in May, and as we were driving through Valle, Arizona, I spied the "Planes of Fame" Air Museum from the road and pulled over. It's an auxiliary to the museum in Chino, Ca. and is very nicely done, with a lot of cool exhibits from WW1 through Iraq. As I was watching two mechanics working on a T-38, a staff member walked up to me and said, "If you're interested, there's a Ford Tri-motor just preparing for take-off outside. I think you can catch him if you hurry". I jogged outside in time to catch this video of the Tri-motor doing its run. you can just see him in the distance as he lifts off. The end of the video shows some of the jets waiting for restoration... I'd never seen a Vampire before, so that was a treat.


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=8_J8EgFik6s[/youtube]

My brother lives in San Diego and he told me about the "Planes of Fame" Air Museum. I am definitely going to check it out when I go to CA next year. Thanks for the tip.

[SohRon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=8_J8EgFik6s



Okay... How do I get my #%$&*!! Youtube video to display??

[Don R]

I live near the Stearman fly in in Galesburg Il. The sound of 30-40 radial engines flying at once will give you chills.