Ford Trimotor Walkaround Tour Mid America Flight Museum 

The interior is so cool to look at, all that old wood paneling is gorgeous. This would’ve been such an elegant way to travel in the 30’s.

Loved the video. I actually got a ride in one of these in 1973 when I was 12 years old. Pilot saw me looking at him starting engines and asked me to be his copilot for ride and even let me take the wheel for a few minutes what a thrill for me !l would love another ride someday

An iconic aircraft, I have never seen film of a Ford-Trimotor doing acrobatics, such as in this video.

I've flown on THIS plane. It's amazing how loud they are. This is a slow moving but very powerful plane

Great video! Very fascinating airplane! I've always loved the Ford Tri-motor. When I think of aviation, this is the type of plane I think of.

And the real cool part about putting luggage in the wings is that it goes in very close to the required center of gravity, so, the pilots do not have to work about doing a balance calculation, they just have to include the total weight of the luggage. No calculations, no mistakes!

Thank you for a great mini-doc; your knowledge and communication skills match your enthusiasm. Thank God for people like you who keep this knowledge and history alive!

Beautiful airplane! It's amazing how bare the cockpit is; I've seen bicycles with more instruments on the steering wheel than this old lady in the cockpit. Super stylish, love it!!

My Grandfather flew for United and was killed in a Ford Tri Motor, NC431-H, Dawson 1/24/33. He flew Fokker F10A prior to that which also was a tri motor.

When I was about 10 years old I helped load a ford tri motor with block salt that was owned by Johnson flying service and leased to the u.s.forest service . This was at Chamberlin Basln in centeral Idaho about 1948/1949 . More than likely the same airplane.

Awesome getting the tour from a guy who is experienced in piloting the plane. Cool stuff.

Thanks for this very informative video , a very advanced airplane for its day and not out of place even in this day and age, basic, simple and reliable, American aviation was so much more advanced than the British and European aircraft industry at the time. As a child living in the remote west coast of the south island of NZ during the nineteen fifties and sixties we were serviced with an air service 5 days a week weather permitting by English built Dehavilid Rapids , an incredibly reliable and versatile aircraft however as far as construction went in comparison to the Ford Tri Motor , ( Dehavilid Rapids were build between 1934 and 1943 ) Very little metal in them build out of Spruce and being fabric covered , power plants being two Gipsy Queen 200 HP inline inverted 6 cylinder engines. As a child I flew in these aircraft type many times , ZK AHS Rapid which was one of the main stays of our air services is now preserved in the museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland NZ, It was build as a Repid in 1938 , There are three airworthy Rapids or Dommine as there war time name still flying in NZ with a forth under a complete restoration at Groydon air museum Gore new Zealand, This is where one of the three flying examples of these aircraft ZK AKY is based along with one of only two flying examples of the Dehavilid Dragonfly aircraft. In March of 2007 I had the pleasure of taking a short 20 minute flight in ZK AKY, brought back a lot of memories in the positive sense. I would dearly love to have the opertunity to fly in the Ford Tri Motor. Fantastic aircraft indeed. Cheers and thanks from NZ.

Thank you for this really informative tour. Seems like understanding how an airplane works and reacts was way easier back in the days.

I had the privilege to replace the push rod cover seals on a Ford Trimotor in Leesburg, FL. 1989.

The rate of technological advancements that were occuring in the 20's & 30's in aviation had to be mind boggling. In 1905 to think of 'quick' transportation between Los Angeles & NYC would have been ridiculous. But by 1935 is was a common place thing. The overall impact this ^ plane & others like it in American life had to totally unbelievable. Nowadays the impact of technological advancements is miniscule in comparison.

In 79 one of these used to fly at the Grand Canyon on a regular basis, used to see it all the time from the south rim.

The Mid America Flight Museum is one of the most incredible stops you can ever make if you are interested in aviation, classic planes, warbirds, or good people. Go there!

Great video of a magnificent aircraft ! I got to fly on the Ford Trimotor at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh. It was the experience of a lifetime ! Cheers ! 🍻

A shiny new Ford Trimotor visited nearby Lima, Ohio, when Neil [Armstrong] was 6 and his daddy had taken the family to see the splendid machine. It was tiny Neil who begged to go for a ride. Dad bought two tickets for $4. Throughout the 20 minute ride, Dad was terrified - but wide eyed young Neil was delighted. [excerpt from Paul Harvey article in the Wapakoneta Daily News, July 1969, Neil's hometown was Wapakoneta, Ohio] I have to wonder if Daddy hadn't taken him up that day imagine how different things might have been for the First Man To Walk on the Moon.

Lovely walk-around, Eric. Magnificent aircraft and splendid presentation. Thanks for making it!

Thank you Eric. I really enjoyed this walk around.

Outstanding walk-around...I've been to Mid America Flight Museum several times...

You do this really, really well. It's enlightening for people who just want to know.

I love that this has the same starter as a Model T, just with 3 of them! You can see some similarities between this and the T, gotta love Ford haha

Great buy scotty i think your right this was the last of a line of last classic antique aircraft design. everything is simple ford is reknown as a easy machine for mechanics to maintain on the keep it simple principle What a great passenger aircraft all that visibility windowing is awesome. to answer your question how to get from new york to LA? there was airships that were abolished by the oil robber barons who forced us all onto fossil fuel travel is how you get to NY to LA without the need of trains or aircraft.

Great video!!! I flew on the EAA's Ford Tri-Motor TAT 5AT plane in January 2019 and it was an incredible experience. Cody is a great pilot! That plane ride was smoother than I had expected and was a total thrill to fly on. The landing was very smooth too. If they come back to Arizona next year, I will do it again! When I've told people about this plane, I've referred to the Ford Tri-Motor as "The Model T of the sky, the Model T of commercial aviation"

Absolutely fascinating.

I'll bet the mechanics love the Trimotor for the ease of maintenance! Easy access to the various systems. Tomorrow I'm going to share this on Gazing Skyward TV. I had a conversation with a guy a couple years back. He told me about how his dad was a smoke jumper and frequently jumped out of Trimotors...

Ford got it right and set the example, as engines slung underneath the wings on pylons became the norm for passenger airliners and still is today!

Excellent walk around.

What an awesome old plane! I look forward to seeing it in the air. I hope to see her parked outside of Frontiers of Flight someday. Or I'll remember all the awesome planes at Mid America and make the drive up there someday.

Great video thank you 😊

Outstanding!!!

This wonder craft was at the Santa Monica Air Show when I was a teenager and for one week allowance ($10.00) I got a ride down to the coast and back. 1964 was a wonder year.

Wonderful airplane with a great history!

I thoroughly enjoyed this!

Very good presentation.

Don't forget the Smoke Jumpers👍

When I was younger I used to see the Ford tri-motor fly in Lake Erie it was very slow for that guy to do stunts that's totally amazing

Short take off and landing cargo and passenger service.👍🙂 Trout fishing weekend coming up..

I believe I saw this aircraft flying for Johnson flying service in the Missoula, MT, in the spring of 1968, Bob Johnson wrote a book called: 'Flying the better part home', It describes flying in Montana out of Missoula, he describes a flying a tri-motor into a remote strip with a cross wind so strong that he crabbed the plane in to a 90 degree angle to the runway and hovered it to the ground, where he had to keep power to the plane to keep from being blown backwards.

Beautiful Museum...

It's absolutely beautiful

Amazing Vid!!!

My cousin flies one of these for the EEA... Took a ride when it came out to Orange County, CA... Got to sit Right Seat!!

Been down there twice and have yet to be able to get in this fantastic bird!! Haha.. We need to plan when you'll be down there so we can all hangout and meet up. :-)

The Ford Tri-Motor I rode in 1962 or so to Put-In-Bay Island had basket-like wicker seats

I love the ford tri motor

Good vid !

I flew on one back in the mid/late 60's out of Port Clinton Ohio to Put-In-Bay island out on Lake Erie. It was I believe Island Airways, the last commercial passenger line using Tri-Motor. Wonder if any of their aircraft are still around.

Amazing!!!! Thank you...ny-la

Question: How did they get the Ford Trimotor to Hawaii? Did they put it on a ship to transport it? I got the opportunity to fly on the 'City of Port Clinton' this past Saturday. An experience of a lifetime to fly on that beauty.

Those are not "dimmer switches" but they are starter switches off of the ford N series tractors

Legendary airplane. 💓

Awesome

What did people think of flying back when this thing was new? Did they think these planes were death traps or did they think flying was safe? Looking at this thing I would feel a little uneasy, it looks well made but kind of rickety.

Watching that clip of one doing acrobatics maybe near s*** myself. I didn't think they were anywhere near capable of that sort of thing

what a nice guy.

Love the oil leak catch pan.

Johnson brake control? I figured it had a manual transmission and that was the shifter!😁

Lol...that skydive in that...wow

It's a lovely plane. Is that a piston engine btw?

Is this one of the earlier aircraft to have metal propellers?

I like Ford airplane...are they still flyable?

Isn’t Ron Pratt the guy that buys cars on Barrett Jackson all the time?

Where was the Ford tri-motor manufactured ?

I thought Ford only made cars and trucks, I didn’t know they made aircraft at that time.

Don't some come with r985s?

I love Ford cars and trucks . Why did they stop making Aircraft's in 1929. . Why is your airplane not flying?

Give me that airplane...dammit...I'll give you my debt

Humans were smarter in the past

F-250xwings

2018 is not a good place to be Fords Better idea at 10,000" is much better

More show less "tell" ....