Ford Tri-Motor auction a reminder of Harvey Firestone's aviation contributions
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A rare Ford Tri-Motor aeroplane on the auction block this week brings new lift to Harvey Firestone’s contributions to the aviation industry. Much has been made of the longtime personal friendship and business partnership between Firestone’s founder and Henry Ford relating to developing tire technology for Ford’s ground-based vehicles, yet Harvey was also along for the ride as commercial flight took off.
According to historical accounts, Firestone and his three sons were on hand as the nation’s first cross-country airline of sorts was inaugurated with a small fleet Ford Tri-Motors on July 8, 1929. They landed and took off from Port Columbus Station in central Ohio at a site personally laid-out by Charles Lindberg.
(Two years earlier, in 1927, Lindberg had installed a Tri-Motor 225-hp, air-cooled radial Wright Whirlwind engine in his Spirit of St. Louis aircraft for his groundbreaking New York to Paris journey. Impressed with its reliability, the Lindberg lore is that he considered the beats of his heart and the rhythm of the pistons to be indistinguishable.)
Back in Columbus, 19 daring pioneer passengers, with Amelia Earhart among them, touched down as they traversed the nation in a then-record time of 48 hours utilizing a series of train rides and Tri-Motor flights.
The venture was put together by a group of railroad barons who formed TAT, Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc. It was later renamed Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc. commonly known as TWA, which begat Trans World Airlines.
The restored Tri-Motor to be auctioned off Saturday, Jan. 17 during primetime coverage on the Speed Channel is riding on Firestone transport 8.25-20 6-ply tires. “The tires were ordered from a vintage truck catalog and were the exact size and tread that came on the plane,” reports Michele Overton, a spokeswoman for the Barrett-Jackson Auction Co., which is handling the sale of a choice 1929 Ford 4-AT-E Tri-Motor during the 38th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz.
It is one of only a handful of Tri-Motors that remain.
“Because so few of Ford’s marvelous Tri-Motor airplanes still exist, this is a rare opportunity to see such an important and historic aircraft,” says Steve Davis, Barrett-Jackson’s president. “This particular aircraft survived being shot by enemy aircraft and the perils of fighting fires in Montana. This might be the last chance to see an icon of an important period in American history before it goes into a private collection.”
The Tri-Motor to be sold Saturday began its journey in 1929 in Spokane, Wash., where it served as a passenger plane for Mamer Flying Service. It was later sold to K-T Flying Service of Honolulu and was at Pearl Harbor during the surprise strike by the Japanese Navy on Dec. 7, 1941. The Tri-Motor suffered exterior bullet holes during the attack but was quickly repaired and returned to service.
The plane was leased by Trans World Airlines in 1949 for its 20th anniversary celebration, modified into a sprayer and forest fire tanker and used by Johnson Flying Service in Montana to drop smoke jumpers and supplies to firefighters. Since 1969, the plane has been privately owned and was part of the Wings and Wheels museum collection previously located in Orlando, Fla.
Bob Woods supervised the majority of the Tri-Motor’s restoration at the Goldsboro Air Center inside the Goldsboro-Wayne Municipal Airport at Pikeville, N.C. The airframe was reworked, a new interior installed and the exterior completely re-skinned. The landing gear is complete and original as are the straight-laced wire wheels. To match the condition of the plane when it was delivered in 1929, no modern avionics or communications gear were added.
The Tri-Motor entered production after World War I, when Henry Ford recognized the potential for mass air transportation. The company built 199 Tri-Motors from 1926 through 1933, when the Ford Airplane Division shut down because of poor sales due brought on by the Great Depression.
Ford, like other early automobile producers, had gotten into the aviation business during the war, building Liberty engines. When the armistice was declared, Ford returned to exclusively manufacturing cars until 1925, when Henry acquired the Stout Metal Airplane Co. at the reported urging of his son Edsel.
Ford’s most successful aircraft was the Tri-Motor — called the “Tin Goose” because of its corrugated metal construction. It used a new alloy called Alclad that combined the corrosion resistance of aluminum with the strength of duralumin, according to historical accounts: “The Tri-Motor first flew on June 11, 1926, and was the first successful U.S. passenger airliner, accommodating about 12 passengers in a rather uncomfortable fashion. Several variants were also used by the U.S. Army.”
The plane was a beast, lauded for its dependability and ability to withstand harrowing flying conditions. Repairs were relatively easy, and some of the planes remained in utilitarian service for years on end, including use as a flying school “bus.”
A newspaper story in the Toledo Blade recounts the Tri-Motor’s longstanding role in “The World’s Shortest Airline” from Port Clinton, Ohio to Kelley’s Island in Lake Erie. Founded in 1930, Island Airways used Tri-Motors from 1936 until 1986, daily ferrying vacationers and school children while serving as Kelley’s lifeline during winters when the island is ice-locked.
A modern-day pilot describes the Tri-Motor thusly: “The propellers on the plane’s three engines buzz deafeningly, shaking the cabin throughout the flight. Passengers hear the screech of tires when the plane lands. Frankly, it flies like a winged Winnebago — without power steering. It goes very slow, makes a lot of noise, and puts a smile on everybody who has the opportunity and the pleasure of flying on it.”
Ford did go on well-publicized camping trips and other terra firma vacations with his friends Harvey Firestone, John Burroughs and Thomas Edison – occasionally joined by a U.S. president.
It is reported that “Ford idolized Edison, who was 16 years older. He had met Edison in 1895 and described his plans for a gas engine vehicle. He had feared that Edison would advise him to use electricity. Edison assured him that an engine was more promising.”
For more information, visit www.barrett-jackson.com.
