1929 Ford Tri-Motor Plane Gives Glimpse of Bygone Era of Air Travel

Members of the media?get a history lesson from pilot Cody Welch before a preview flight in the Experimental Aircraft Association's restored 1929 Ford Tri-Motor at the Plant City Municipal Airport on Thursday.

Buy Photo SCOTT WHEELER | LEDGER PHOTOS

Published: Thursday, March 22, 2012 at 10:59 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, March 22, 2012 at 10:59 p.m.

PLANT CITY | The 1929 Ford Tri-Motor's corrugated tin exterior trimmed in blue shimmered on the tarmac.

But suddenly, the plane's three, nine-cylinder engines roared to life Thursday at the Plant City Municipal Airport.

Slowly it crept forward and gained speed. At 80 mph, it climbed into the air.

Through Sunday, visitors to the airport can hitch a ride in the plane. It's one of only three in operation and one of 16 known in the world. Most of the remaining models are in museums or private collection.

The cost is $80 per person, and the money is used to help support the Experimental Aircraft Association, the plane's owner.

Inside, padded seats and finished wood paneling provide a glimpse of the 1920s era of air travel, where men dressed in suits and women in their finest dresses and hats.

Air travel in those days was a luxury.

Today, this kind of air travel is an attraction, albeit a traveling one. And pilot Cody Welch is there to help educate those fascinated by the aeronautical traveling museum.

This was the plane that beget commercial air travel, Welch explained.

A concept developed by Henry and Edsel Ford, the Ford Tri-Motor was supposed to revolutionize the industry, Welch explained in a preflight history lesson.

"Henry's vision was that you could use aviation to reduce the differences between people," he said.

But the plane was plagued with efficiency problems.

It was heavy, it had a top speed of about 85 miles per hour, it guzzled gasoline and could only travel about 250 miles (depending on the headwind) before needing to refuel.

The engines in use on the plane today consume about a gallon of gas every minute.

"But something had to come along and birth the industry," Welch said. The tri-motor planes were in use from about 1927 to 1932.

This particular one, which anyone can ride, was built in 1929 and was originally purchased by Eastern Air Transport, which eventually because Eastern Airlines. It was the company's first plane.

After its run at Eastern, it was sold to Cubana Airlines in Cuba and served as the Air Force One equivalent to the Dominican Republic's dictator at the time. It also flew in barnstorming air shows, which is similar to its use today, and it was used as a crop duster and forest fire plane.

It also had a brief Hollywood stint and was used in "The Family Jewels," which starred Jerry Lewis.

But now, the EAA, which purchased the plane in 1985 after it was damaged in a storm, is touring with the plane to 150 cities around the country. Its next stop is in Sarasota.

"What we're doing is bringing antiquity out across the country," said Welch, a retired airline pilot.

[ Jeremy Maready can be reached at jeremy.maready@theledger.com or 863-802-7592. ]

Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20120322/news/120329717

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