-- With the expansion, Tri-Motor Heritage Foundation continues its work rebuilding and restoring a flying Tri-Motor plane. The goal of the restoration is to use the airplane for educational purposes and historical flight experiences.
For more details, please visit https://www.restoretheford.org
The ongoing project connects the history of the Ford Tri-Motor plane with the local history of the Lake Erie Islands region in Ohio, highlighting the relationship between the plane and the development of society in the region.
The Ford Tri-Motor airplane is a three-engine airplane that was manufactured between 1925 and 1933. Due to its reliability and relative comfort for passengers, the Tri-Motor was able to be used in transcontinental and even international passenger flights. The Tri-Motor was the first plane to be flown over the geographic South Pole, and Franklin Roosevelt flew aboard one during his presidential campaign in 1932. The history-making plane continued to be flown well into the 1960s.
The Tri-Motor Heritage Foundation is restoring a 5-AT-B Ford Tri-Motor plane with tail number NC9684. It was built in 1929 and could transport 13-15 passengers. The plane is housed at the Liberty Aviation Museum, where a group of mostly volunteers work to restore the historic aircraft.
In the local Lake Erie Islands region, the Tri-Motor plane was integral to providing residents on the isolated islands with a means of travel between islands and to and from the mainland. Due to the plane’s ability to take off and land from short runways, Tri-Motors were able to be used as daily commuter planes, ambulances, and freight and cargo haulers for 50 years.
Tri-Motor Heritage Foundation’s restoration project aims to preserve this local history by providing locals and visitors with a genuine flying Ford Tri-Motor airplane. In addition to educating people about the local historical significance of the plane, the restoration will preserve an important piece of aviation history.
The restoration began in 2004 with just a few pieces of the 1929 Ford Tri-Motor plane. Since then, trained volunteers overseen by an airframe mechanic have been working to rebuild and refurbish the plane. Visitors to the Liberty Aviation Museum can observe the restoration project as it progresses.
Interested parties can find more information at https://www.restoretheford.org
Release ID: 89063109