Ford Tri-Motor planes

[Henry's Lady's Man]

Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

Here is my car and the Trimotor;

Dang, I had to share the plane with 13 other A's. And you had palm trees.

of the 199 made, there are only 8 currently certified to fly.

[Henry's Lady's Man]

Originally Posted by 1955cj5

The one that was here...probably the same airplane, had Pratts...and a little trouble with #1..

Luxurious interior!

This was the same airplane that was in Harrah's collection..I saw it there when i was a kid...

It almost looks like these guys are trying to "crank start" it!

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Henry's Lady's Man

Tom, I was content to be in the rear seat; best window view, 'cept I'm sure the co-pilot seat was the best view of all. I have an issue with vertigo so I didn't dare get the co-pilot seat. Did he let you fiddle with the controls?

He asked if I was a pilot, and I think he might have let me take the controls for a bit, but I told him I wasn't a pilot. Sure too bad that so few are left.

[1955cj5]

Originally Posted by Henry's Lady's Man

It almost looks like these guys are trying to "crank start" it!

They had taxied out a couple of times and the #1 engine would miss-fire and quit and they would come back and fiddle with it..."adjusting the carburetor" they said.....

They got it going and took the waiting passengers for a ride...

The engine quit again after touchdown when they returned..

I heard they changed out the carb over night and that fixed it...

I have a video of the takeoff..i'll see if I can load it...

[Floats]

Originally Posted by Henry's Lady's Man

It almost looks like these guys are trying to "crank start" it!

Turning the prop by hand is part of the normal cold start proceedure on radial and inverted engines. The procedure is to clear oil which might have drained into the combustion chambers of the lower cylinders. During startup the resultant hydraulic lock could bend a conrod, blow the top and/or the complete pod off the crankcase.
It is quite normal for a little oil to escape the valves of the lower cylinders and run down the exhaust during the manual rotation. A hydraulic lock during the manaul rotation must NOT be forced, but cleared by opening a small stop cock in the cylinder head or by removing a spark plug.
I have flown Boeing Steerman's, Yaks, Beavers, T6 Harvards and Dakotas with radial engines and Tiger Moths, Chipmunks and a Drover with inverted Gypsy Major engines, which all nead a little extra TLC before startup.