• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Rare bird

Share this page

Banjo

Banjo

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
I just got home from work, and was out in the garage putting a new chuck on my drill, when I heard the unmistakeable drone of piston powered aircraft engines. I had heard the radio announcement on the way home about the local EAA hosting a show this weekend featuring a classic plane that was coming in today, and sure enough, as I stepped outside here came a 1929 Ford Tri-motor throught the rain, flying low enough I could see the pilot!
VERY COOL!
I was waiting to see Indy push the rubber raft out the side door......
 
WOW, now that's something you don't see very often! I would love to have seen that. I never saw one in the real, but they say they were built like a tank! I don't know of any out here around Oklahoma. Banjo, did you get a photo or not enough time to grab a camera. Henry would be proud! PJ
 
Ford Tri-motor. Stout 4-AT! Yeehaa!

Passengers usually went deaf for a few hours after a flight. No insulation, no heating - but quite an adventure in one of the earlier true commercial airliners.

Is this the one you saw?

EAA_Ford_Trimotor.jpg

The EAA's Trimotor.

Tom
 
Tom, That likely is the one I saw. I did manage to get a short video, but it had already passed overhead, and was flying away. I'll see if I can post it .
When it first came into view it was like a ghost. It was raining lightly, and it came out of the fog, very low. I could make out some detail, but it was almost like watching a grainy old black and white film reel. I can't think of a more perfect view.
I plan on visiting the show this weekend. I'll try to get some good pics. They are offering rides, But I suspect I can't afford one.
 
I used to see the tri-motors quite often many years ago when I lived in Missoula MT. Johnson Flying Service owned them, the US Forest Service used them to carry smoke jumpers. Used to see TBM's all the time also, they were used as retardant bombers.
 
I actually got to fly in one during one of the EAA shows in Oshkosh a couple of years ago. It certainly was a thrill.

Edit: I just looked closer at Toms photo and that's the actual plane I flew in!
 
Considering that there are only 2 or 3 of these that are still flying world wide, I'm not surprised we're all talking about the same plane.
 
Nothing like the sound of big round engines going by. There's a DC-3 that flies north out of a local airport pretty regularly and that rumble is unmistakeable. And this weekend the CAF B-29 is in town and the usual flightpath when tours are going on tend to go over my neightborhood so I'm hoping to see or hear it go by more than once before they move on.
 
Got to go take a ground tour of it this afternoon. I got some good pics, but I've got to upload them. I met some really nice folks from the local EAA, and they showed us around thier facility. We also managed ot be out on the tarmac just as the local Model A club was motoring out to the plane to get pictures taken. We gor a few good ones of them as well.
What a neat plane. It was a look back in time to the beginnings of passenger air travel.
 
Back
Top