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Old 01-24-2019, 07:07 PM   #1
Gary/IA
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Default Ford Tri-Motor

This has been flying over my house all afternoon, must be taking people on rides. I have added some closer pictures. I rode in one in about 1962 in Red Oak, Iowa. I think it was based out of Ottawa(Sp), Kansas.
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Old 01-24-2019, 07:36 PM   #2
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Very cool ! Propellers - what we used to cross the mountains, deserts, and prairies. Thanks for sharing.
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Old 01-24-2019, 08:23 PM   #3
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

I rode in the EAA trimotor a few years ago. Beautiful plane brought to Pontiac Mich by EAA. A great $25 plane ride. It hardly seemed to be moving on takeoff. Just kind of warming up on acceleration and we were in the air. Lots of fun.
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Old 01-24-2019, 09:25 PM   #4
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

I also had a ride in a Ford tri motor perhaps 40 years ago. It was owned and restored by a major airline and was visiting airports for publicity. It spent a day at the Provincetown Airport at the tip of Cape Cod, and I drove to the airport in my Model A mail truck. One of the publicity folks spotted the Mail truck and had me back it up to a 90 degree angle with the airplane for photos. Being there in the Model A Mail truck got me a ride on the last flight of the day. An experience I will never forget!
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Old 01-24-2019, 09:56 PM   #5
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Had a photo of my 1928 Coupe with a Tri-Motor back in the 1980's. Photo was published in the "Restorer" Vol. 31, Issue 6
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Old 01-24-2019, 11:58 PM   #6
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I got to be copilot in the Port Clinton Trimotor in Salem Oregon in 2016. My three sons also flew along. It was a fantastic experience. Check EAA website for schedules for the Trimotors. I also got a photo shoot with my 31 roadster in Bismarck last summer.
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Old 01-25-2019, 03:19 AM   #7
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A group is restoring a Fprd TriMotor in Port Clinton Ohio. The Detroit Model T Club has planned a May visit to the Airport to see the restoration.
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Old 01-25-2019, 04:34 AM   #8
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Very nice to see (and to hear!). 8 miles nearly we have some oldtimer planes. 4 Harvard T 6, 3 Boeing Stearman, 1 Ryan PT 2, ... . Ford planes are not flying in Germany.
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Old 01-25-2019, 08:02 AM   #9
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Island Airlines in Port Clinton flew trimotors for many years and we used to go to Put-in-Bay on them. Quite a thrill! They wouldn't fly very fast and when they got over the island they just sort of plopped down out of the sky. Island had a few planes and they used some for parts. When they ran out of parts they retired the rest of the fleet. Victory Air Museum in Port Clinton is building a brand new trimotor from the original plans. I don't know if it's done yet, but they've been working on it for years.
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Old 01-25-2019, 08:26 AM   #10
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Quote:
Victory Air Museum in Port Clinton is building a brand new trimotor from the original plans. I don't know if it's done yet, but they've been working on it for years.
Then one can only hope that this will be realized. Lufthansa bought 3 Lockheed Constellation a few years ago to make 1 flying plane out of it. After about 3/4 year, unfortunately, the project had to be ended because the costs were sky-rocketing in exorbitant heights.



Previously, a three-engined Ju 52 was restored by Lufthansa. Today again with the old flag D-AQUI organized flights over fields and meadows.
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Old 01-25-2019, 08:37 AM   #11
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

That is really cool, and great stories about these wonderful planes. I have never seen one in person but would love to some day.
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Old 01-25-2019, 10:25 AM   #12
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Gary that EAA aircraft has been here at the Zanesville Airport (ZZV). Quite a sight to see it flying around since I live within a half mile of the runway. I may have to opt for a ride if they bring it back sometime.
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Old 01-25-2019, 10:53 AM   #13
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

A lot of folks don't realize how influential both Henry and Edsel Ford were in the rise of the Airline industry. After buying the Stout Airplane Company to get a foothold in the industry, the subsidiary developed a series of increasingly capable aircraft culminating in the Trimotor. Ford recorded a number of firsts at Ford Airport in Dearborn - first airport beacon, first paved runway, first commercial mooring mast for airships, first passenger terminal, first airport hotel (the Dearborn Inn).

Unfortunately, a Ju-52 Tante Ju trimotor was lost last summer in an accident. Operated by Ju-Air, the plane crashed near Piz Segnas, Switzerland, while en route from Locarno to Dübendorf.
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Old 01-25-2019, 11:11 AM   #14
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

There is a Ford Tri-motor in the San Diego Air & Space museum. Of course, it’s in the Ford Rotunda built for the 1935 international exposition by Ford.
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Old 01-25-2019, 12:52 PM   #15
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Oops, my bad, sorry
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Old 01-25-2019, 01:02 PM   #16
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Quote:
A lot of folks don't realize how influential both Henry and Edsel Ford were in the rise ...
...

Unfortunately, a Ju-52 Tante Ju trimotor was lost last summer in an accident. Operated by Ju-Air, the plane crashed near Piz Segnas, Switzerland, while en route from Locarno to Dübendorf.

Henry Ford is considered here in Germany to be an extremely progressive businessman with a lot of foresight.

The "Tante Ju" crashed at a high pass crossing in the Alps with unusually hot outside temperature. Probably a stall on a wing; the flying speed did not consider the minimum speed for the high outside temperature and the low air pressure.
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Old 01-25-2019, 02:17 PM   #17
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

There is one flying around Mesa this weekend. I am able to see it flying about six miles away. Thinking of going over Sunday afternoon and going for a ride.
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Old 01-25-2019, 02:23 PM   #18
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Quote:
Originally Posted by denis4x4 View Post
There is a Ford Tri-motor in the San Diego Air & Space museum. Of course, it’s in the Ford Rotunda built for the 1935 international exposition by Ford.
It is in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. I believe the Rotunda was destroyed by fire many years ago. Please correct me if I am wrong. The plane in the Henry Ford is the one used in the Byrd expedition to Antartica. Sorry I read this wrong, there is a Trimotor at the rotunda at the Air and space museum in Balboa park in San Diego.

Last edited by midgetracer; 01-25-2019 at 02:29 PM. Reason: update
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Old 01-25-2019, 02:35 PM   #19
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Ford’s Airliner.

Yes Henry made an airliner. Firstly he purchased an aviation manufacturer by the name of Stout in1926 and Mr Stout designed the “Ford Tri Motor”. As the name suggests a 3 engine aeroplane. Ideas were taken (stolen) from the German Junkers which used corrugated skins. The corrugation gave rigidity but was heavier than traditional fabric which is still used today on some new aeroplanes. Then the basic design was taken from the Fokker. I believe this resulted in a law suit. Have I spelt suit correctly?

The aeroplane was produced and sold in 1929 and Ford went on to produce 199 of them. Many of today’s modern airlines commenced with them. It was a military machine to. Now some trivia, KLM was one such airline and KLM stands for Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij meaning ‘royal airline company. Betcha didn’t know that and I betcha you can’t pronounce the name either.

Today 5 remain and I believe, and stand to be corrected, (see signature at base of this article) the last regular public service they provided was at long island doing a milk run,so to speak. One went to Idaho and was used for crop spraying then went onto forest fire bombing.

Engine power started at 200 hp then 300 and mostly ended with the Pratt and Whitney Radial 985 (cubic inch displacement) which was supercharged and delivered 450 hp. I think that one would find today all remaining aeroplanes were R985’s ( I sat behind these R985’s for years on the Agcat). . A few had the rpm increased to 2700 rpm and delivered 525 hp.

I see on the aviation trading journal “trade a plane” one is offered for 2.85 million.

I reckon many readers will have know the above. Many readers to would know the tune, a once popular duet turned to a hit. Do click onto the link and take a listen even if you know it. It’s great. Ada Jones and Billy Murray

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFZDB6DqAnA
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Old 01-25-2019, 02:50 PM   #20
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Quote:
Ideas were taken (stolen) from the German Junkers which used corrugated skins.
Hugo Junkers first constructed Ju 52 had only one engine. It was much too weak, so the series was completed with 3 motors. Previously, Junkers built a single-engine low-wing aircraft, "F 13".


Both trimots shows approximately similar. Ford's interieur was luxury.
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Old 01-25-2019, 04:20 PM   #21
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Default Re: Ford Tri-Motor

Here's the history of the aircraft:




Justin Taylan 2018
Aircraft History
Built by Ford as 5-AT-B Trimotor during 1928. First flight on December 1, 1928. During January 1929, sold to Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) and registered as NC9645. Nicknamed "City of Wichita" in honor of the initiation of transcontinental commercial air service on July 7, 1929 with "City of Columbus".
In April 1931, purchased by Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA) and helped develop the airlines flight routes. In July 1935 sold to G. Ruckstill / Grand Canyon Airlines. Next, in February 1937 to Boulder Dam Tours.
In December 1937 sold to Transportes Aereos del Continente Americano (TACA Airlines) and registered in Honduras as AN-AAS. In 1942 sold to an unknown owner in Compeche, Mexico and registered as XA-FUB. In 1950, registered to another unknown owner in Compeche, Mexico and registered as XA-NET.
During 1951, during a major overhaul, the corrugated skin was removed and replaced with flat metal skin and was dubbed “the smooth-skin Ford" and sold in July 1953. In January 1954 damaged during an accident and afterwards placed into storage.
In 1955, purchased by Eugene Frank of Caldwell, Idaho and transported to the United States and registered as N58996 and was placed into storage. In July 1964 sold to William F. Harrah of Harrah’s Hotel and Casinos in Nevada, and returned the plane’s registration to NC9645. Over the next seven years, fully restored with corrugated skin. In 1971 the trimotor returned to flying condition and was flown in Reno then to static display as part of the Harrah Collection until he passed away. In June 1986 auction to Gary Norton of Athol, Idaho.
In February 1999, acquired by Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum and placed into storage until 1996 when it underwent another restoration and resumed flying.
During 2014, acquired by Ed Patrick / Liberty Aviation Museum and registered as N964 arriving during July 2014. Afterwards, this aircraft entered into a leas agreement with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and began flying around the United States are part of the EAA Ford Tri-Motor Tour.
This aircraft has a natural metal finish. The lower left wing has "NC9645" painted in black block. On the right side of the nose is "City of Port Clinton" (where it is normally based). On the left side of the nose is "City of Wichita". The fuselage has the Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) logo. The tail has "Ford" and "NC9645".
References
FAA Registry - Ford 5-AT-B Trimotor N9645
Liberty Aviation Museum - Ford Tri-Motor "City of Port Clinton"
EAA - History of the Liberty Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-B
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Old 01-25-2019, 06:32 PM   #22
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One was flying around North Mesa yesterday afternoon by Falcon Field. Though was seeing something large and SLOW flying and was the Ford Tri-motor.
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Old 01-25-2019, 06:47 PM   #23
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https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Arch...AIRPLANE-70573

Got a few bullet holes in it.
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Old 01-25-2019, 08:39 PM   #24
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My 1937 Ford with the Ford Tri Motor Airplane at the Ford Motor Company Hangar at the former Ford Airport (Now Lansing Municipal) at Lansing, Illinois.
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Old 01-25-2019, 09:22 PM   #25
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Don't sell these old prop planes short! There is a niche for them! Catalinas make excellent forest fire fighters (so i'm told) They can swoop down on a lake and fill their tanks without too much loss in airspeed, Bill Stout, who was Ford's designer of the Trimotor, in 1958 (IIRC) produced one. It was called "One More Tri". Stout was of a pretty advanced age by then and the project went nowhere. But now we have the Russian Antonov AN 2 Colt which parallels the Ford's go slow, but anywhere ability. The Antonov is a real throwback! It is a bi plane with a huge 1000 HP Shvetsov Radial engine. It looks like something out of the 1920s, but the first one was produced in 1947 and they were still cranking them out in the 1980s, Many east bloc countries produced them under license. this airplane was the "Farm Truck" of Russia, hauling cattle and supplies to remote areas. There is one in NJ.It's painted red and white with the name of Lithuanian Air Force. I've been on this plane but not up in it. The FAA was on the field and the US Govt considers it an experimental and won't allow him to take passengers up. Getting back to the Ford's, To produce this plane today would require a good source of new Radial engines. Even HF used Curtis Wright
"Whirlwind" engines. The Russians and the Poles are the only ones making them today.
Terry




Quote:
Originally Posted by marty in Ohio View Post
Island Airlines in Port Clinton flew trimotors for many years and we used to go to Put-in-Bay on them. Quite a thrill! They wouldn't fly very fast and when they got over the island they just sort of plopped down out of the sky. Island had a few planes and they used some for parts. When they ran out of parts they retired the rest of the fleet. Victory Air Museum in Port Clinton is building a brand new trimotor from the original plans. I don't know if it's done yet, but they've been working on it for years.
Marty
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Old 01-25-2019, 10:54 PM   #26
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Quote:
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Very nice to see (and to hear!). 8 miles nearly we have some oldtimer planes. 4 Harvard T 6, 3 Boeing Stearman, 1 Ryan PT 2, ... . Ford planes are not flying in Germany.
Hi Werner,

Actually a Ford Trimotor did fly in Germany!!! On 9 August 1929, a Ford trimotor flew across the border into Germany on its publicity tour of Europe. To document that event, here is a photo of the first page of the German Ford Trimotor sales brochure where you can read about it for yourself, auf Deutsch:


mit Ford Trimotor Grüße aus Maryland,
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Old 01-26-2019, 01:46 AM   #27
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https://www.eaa.org/shop/Flights/FlyTheFord.aspx
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Old 01-26-2019, 12:35 PM   #28
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There is a Junkers JU52 w/one engine in a museum in Winnipeg. It was de-constructed from a JU52-3M to replicate a plane that worked in the Canadian north for many years.
See: http://royalaviationmuseum.com/infog...u-521m-cf-arm/
http://royalaviationmuseum.com/junkers-ju-52-cf-arm/
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Old 01-27-2019, 02:53 PM   #29
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Unfortunately, I now had to read in the newspaper that Lufthansa will no longer fly with the Junkers 52 from this year. Although a round trip per hour cost 400, -, were always booked all places. But because the costs could not be covered, the management decided against this beautiful aircraft. This management had also stopped the restoration of the Constellation.

I think that's a pity. It has always been a good image advertising.

But in this day and age managers have no desire for sentimentality.

Our world is becoming colorless!



Guten Tag Brad.

This is a very interesting little book! I have a lot of literature about old machines and motors, about aviation, etc. Richard Bach wrote very, very beautiful stories about his flying.
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Old 01-27-2019, 06:41 PM   #30
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The JU-52 saved alot of lives in the debacle at Stalingrad. Overloaded food and medical supplies flying in,loaded with wounded flying out over russian held areas..pockmarked runways,subzero temperatures.
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Old 01-28-2019, 08:47 AM   #31
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I did some more reading, being sparked by this thread. Def an interesting and groundbreaking aircraft. It was also the first plane to do an in flight refuel of another airplane. I always thought the 'Ford' in tri motor was because it had Ford motors! There are only about 8 still flying, which stands to reason why I have never seen one.
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Old 01-28-2019, 09:20 AM   #32
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Ford also worked on a plane for every man.. the 'flivver plane' the raw profits from the T sped aircraft development,speedboat development and a number of Mr Fords personal projects..those same profits also kept the automobile business alive when the didnt turn a profit from cars...from 1929 to 1946..Never wonder why he stuck with the T,it made him a fortune..
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Old 01-28-2019, 03:08 PM   #33
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My father was flown out of Russia with "Aunt Ju". In the plane layed many soldiers with lost frozen feet and shrapnels in the body. They only just screamed. They only got schnapps.



Later, my father had to go back to the front and starved 4 years in Russian captivity with bugs and fleas. He has never been able to enjoy the Ju again.
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Old 01-28-2019, 03:14 PM   #34
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Supplement to picture no. 30



To start the engines at -35 ° C, the engine oil was diluted with 1/3 gasoline, otherwise the engines were too stiff.
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Old 01-28-2019, 09:18 PM   #35
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You father survived Stalingrad only to be sent back to the east and be captured by the russians and spent four years in captivity?..he was lucky to survive both,extremely lucky..the russians didnt treat german pows well,no geneva convention..
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Old 01-29-2019, 06:49 AM   #36
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I flew around for years with business
After several "issues" with flight I decided if God intended me to fly I would have wings and feathers. Nothing like miracle on the Hudson but enough to make one sweat and ponder mortality!
I'm now a land lover.
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Old 01-29-2019, 10:00 AM   #37
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In Dayton, Ohio, I flew in a Tri motor in the early 60s. I was 12 or 13. The plane was touring the midwest. I don't remember if it flew from the Moraine airport or from the Montgomery County Airport, now Dayton-Wright Bros. airport, home of the Wright B flyer.
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Old 01-30-2019, 06:08 PM   #38
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In 2003 at he Iola, Wisconsin car show, there was a Tri-Motor offering rides at a reasonable price. (I think it was from the EAA).
Anyhow, after watching it fly overhead, making a lot of noise, and seemingly going nowhere fast, I decided to keep my feet on the ground.
My loss, I'm sure.
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Old 01-31-2019, 09:27 AM   #39
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Hello,


here is once a tri mot picture of me. The Junkers along with two North American T-6. Air Show Aachen-Merzbrück.
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Old 01-31-2019, 09:53 AM   #40
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Hallo!
The T 6 was actually an AT 6 (AT- Advanced Trainer) Were they training the new Luftwaffe pilots with them? Whenever at plane, car, boat, gun, etc is "Out of place" one wonders how they got there. Who knows! I wouldn't look for them in Germany. I have heard that the AT 6 was fitted out with guns and used in combat in Korea. Also, I have heard that the Japanese designed their "Zero" using the AT 6 as a model. Whether or not either one is true, I can't say. It's quite an airplane either way.
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Hello,


here is once a tri mot picture of me. The Junkers along with two North American T-6. Air Show Aachen-Merzbrück.
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Old 01-31-2019, 10:53 AM   #41
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Werner, I feel sorry for what your father and every other German had to go though. I knew some Russian prisoners of war and what they went through was incredibly bad. If the allies had treated the Germany better after World War 1, perhaps, Hitler would never have been elected in 1933. If Lenin had not died in 1924, Stalin would not have been elevated to 1st secretary of the communist party, USSR. However, They were elevated to positions of power in their respective countries. It was only a matter of time. "Barbarossa" was begun on June 22, 1941. Most people thought this was a terrible act of aggression, few knowing that Stalin was planing then same thing, only later. Hitler knew it and was only being prudent. Yet, it became a "Rich man's war and a poor man's fight". Men like your father and my friends Andrei and Sergei had to endure the horrors of the "Eastern Front" winters and places like the
Pripyet marshes. I knew some Germans who had fought there and they told me that these marshes were full of poisonous snakes and they came out of hibernation in the spring. They were worse than the Russians! So, This is my understanding of the war! Andrei told me he was captured near Voronezh and they made him walk from there, across Poland, to a camp near Hamburg (Later the British zone) He was hospitalized until two British officeres came to him one day and told him he would have to go back to Russia. That night, he broke out and headed for Denmark, where he hid out for a year. Because Russia never signed the Geneva Conference. Russian prisoners were treated horribly. Receiving less food and supplies than British or American. They were given the worst jobs, such as going into Panzer tanks where the crews had been killed and the hatches were jammed with a shell and removing the bodies. I'm sure your father suffered no less in Russia. Imagine how different the world would be if these two monsters , Hitler and Stalin, had not been been elevated to power!
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My father was flown out of Russia with "Aunt Ju". In the plane layed many soldiers with lost frozen feet and shrapnels in the body. They only just screamed. They only got schnapps.



Later, my father had to go back to the front and starved 4 years in Russian captivity with bugs and fleas. He has never been able to enjoy the Ju again.
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Old 01-31-2019, 11:48 AM   #42
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Dear Terry,



you have described the inhuman situation very accurately. Thank you very much for your compassionate words!


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Old 01-31-2019, 12:13 PM   #43
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In Canada the AT-6 was called a "Harvard", don't ask me why, I don't have a clue.
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Old 02-01-2019, 10:33 PM   #44
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This is the Byrd expedition plane at the Henry.

[IMG][/IMG]
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Old 02-02-2019, 08:30 PM   #45
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In Canada the AT-6 was called a "Harvard", don't ask me why, I don't have a clue.
Actually the Harvard was a different airplane, although a trainer with fixed gear.
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Old 02-03-2019, 06:06 AM   #46
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I do not want to dilute the original Ford trimot theme, therefore just only a short note:
The young created German Air Force had received 135 "Harvard" from the Canadians Armed Forces. These were yellow painted trainer aircraft. They had retractable landing gears.
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Old 02-03-2019, 03:52 PM   #47
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The AT-6 (or SNJ in Navy parlance) "Texan" was called the "Harvard" by the British and Commonwealth countries that used them during the war, probably as a nod to the American origin of the type. There was a very similar looking aircraft with fixed gear called the NA-64 Yale. There was no relationship between the design of the AT-6 and the Zero, but T-6s were used as the basis for the movie Zeros in Tora Tora Tora. An armed version was used as a counter insurgency aircraft in French colonial Africa and the Australians had an armed version called the Wirraway. The Australian Boomerang, while a different aircraft, shared many T-6 components.

The German's used a couple captured Yale trainers, but the standard German trainers were the Bucker Jungman, Gotha-145 and Arado-96. More or less equivalent to our PT-17, BT-13, and AT-6.
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Old 03-21-2019, 04:38 PM   #48
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Hello, attached a nice picture with the 'Tri Mot' in the background. (It is the cover picture of an ancient accessories catalog.)
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Old 03-21-2019, 11:37 PM   #49
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Hi Guys,
Wayne is correct with regards to the AT6, Yale, Texan, Harvard and using them to build Zero replicas used in the film.
I have been flying Boeings for South African Airways for a little over 30 years and we have two Harvards, a DC3, DC4 and a JU52 all restored to pristeen condition in our workshops by apprentace aircraft machanics and flown at airshows by some of our pilots who have shown an interest in flying for our Historic fleet in thier off time. Our Tante Ju is also fitted with 3 Harvard Pratt and Whitneys.
Regards
Chris
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Old 03-22-2019, 01:40 AM   #50
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Ronald Reagan shows you how to identify a Mitsubishi Zero.
https://archive.org/details/Recognit...eseZeroFighter
My father always said you could identify them by the sound. Sort of missing a beat and they would keep coming and coming over the horizon (planes were bit slower in them days).
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Old 03-22-2019, 07:32 PM   #51
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Got a chance to fly in the Tri-motor and it is a blast! Just like riding in an A. Although after about 4-6 hours you would have been beat.


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Old 03-22-2019, 09:48 PM   #52
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I saw the Byrd expedition tri-motor at the Henry Ford last summer. I was thinking it was fitted with skis.
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Old 03-22-2019, 10:00 PM   #53
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I saw the Byrd expedition tri-motor at the Henry Ford last summer. I was thinking it was fitted with skis.
On second thought I think the one on skis was a Fokker tri-motor named for Josephine Ford.
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Old 09-10-2019, 03:09 PM   #54
Werner
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Here is a nice picture of the Tri-Mot as a flying scale model. (Shown in "Modellflieger 10/2019").
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Old 09-10-2019, 09:10 PM   #55
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There was a German company, KAVAN (now Pelikan Daniel), that used to make a series of very nice Ford Trimotor remote control (RC) models:




...and DUMAS makes a rubber band powered Trimotor:


....or if you would like, you can build you own RC Trimotor using these plans

Mit Ford Grüße aus Maryland,
Brad
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File Type: jpg triplanecompletedside-2.jpg (102.5 KB, 9 views)
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Last edited by Brad in Germany; 09-10-2019 at 09:29 PM.
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