There are approximately six Tri Motors currently flying. One (The City of Wichita) came to a local airport for display and offered rides, like this plane, for a reasonable fee. For an additional fee you could secure the right (copilot's') seat. Being an old pilot I paid the extra and took the ride twice. Since I was sitting up front I boarded first. On one of the flights, while waiting for the other passengers to board, the pilot and l were talking about the plane and flying. I obviously told him I was an old pilot and flew a lot in my younger days and was a pilot in the Civil Air Patrol for several years. He was an Air Lines Captain and was one of a group of pilots who volunteered to pilot the aircraft for the pure joy of flying this iconic machine. After we were at our cruising/sight seeing altitude he asked if I wanted to fly. Obviously I jumped at such a chance. He gave me a couple of instructions on trimming the plane, etc. and said to maintain the current altitude and fly it like any other plane I had flown in the past. It was a TRUE joy to fly. Being an old aviator I was determined to make coordinated turns and keep the ball centered in the turn and bank indicator. I found I had to enter a turn by applying a slight amount of aileron before adding rudder. I mentioned that and he said something to the effect of my catching on quickly. I felt like the kid in class that got the only gold star. :-) I flew for about 10 to 15 minutes. What a thrill !!! I don't think afterwards that my feet touched the ground for a week. :-) The plane did not have a yolk like in modern aircraft but wooden steering wheels like this one, It looked like Henry took it out of one of his automobiles. I took a plethora of photos and videos. I wish I could post them with this comment. What an experience to not only get to fly in but to get to fly this incredible piece of aviation history.
My wife Nancy and I had a ride on a Ford trimotor out of Oshkosh Wisconsin. We flew over lake Winnebago during the "Shake The Lake" large ocean boat race. We had a helicopter flying below us filming the race. It was great.
Look at you getting into music and all..... I see the Herr Toht, from Raiders of the Lost Ark, dropped by.....' Whoa! the engines in that take-off! Thanks for that! This was captivating. Cheers!
MrSunlander Haha, spot on! It was definitely a LOT of in-your-face prop sound. Was pretty loud even while wearing the David Clarks. Glad you enjoyed the vid 👍
This video just popped up..just a random video..But I did get a ride on the Tin Goose N7584 in April 1990..Was $15.oo for 15 minutes out of the north Titusville Florida airport.. much fun! A great ride. GLTA...EOM
Wow this just popped up. I'm pretty sure I was there that day I remember the group that was dressed in 1920's style clothes they were on the flight right before mine.
Hey that’s awesome! Hope you enjoyed your tri-motor flight as well. It’s possible some of my b-roll shots from the ground may have been your flight. Just can’t remember if I flew before or after the 20’s dressed group.
I love these old planes. My favorite is the DC-3. I was gonna get flight lessons but I forgot about it. After all, I'm only 15. I had this cool idea of a airline that only uses classic passenger planes
I flew on her out of KYIP when I was there for an airshow in 1994 or 1995 I believe. A lot of history there. For more than one reason I'll always remember that ride. When I was getting up from my seat after we parked I banged my head really hard. In fact I tried to play it off but couldn't. Immediately I had to sit back down for a couple of minutes. Was it worth it? Absolutely!
Eric Lozen What a memory! If you had to take one for the team, that was definitely the aircraft do it on 😁 I’m a fairly tall guy myself and luckily escaped without injury, but man that entrance is like doing the limbo haha. Glad you had a chance to fly on this bird. Definitely lots of history for a 90+ year old aircraft.
