In the Summer of '64, while in service to my Country as a National Park Ranger at Provincetown, MA I was invited to enjoy a flight in this rickety old airplane called a "Ford Trimotor. I guess I was game as I knw it would be a once-in-a lifetime adventure. And boy was it. As we taxied down this Provincetown Airport, Cape Cod, runway I snuck a peek out the window as we became airborne. The 3 Curtis-Wright air-cooled radial engines throbbed with power as my heart throbbed. I hung on for dear life! Yahooo cowboy.
Something happened as we gained altitude: I could see Race Point and the delightful sand dunes I traversed daily in my pale lime colored governments Dodge Power-Wagon carryall. "Sorry Henry!" LOL..As we climbed higher, my confidence level climbed. I had full-faith in the Pilot and we flew without seatbelts no white knuckles either ..as I look back to 1964. Amazing aeronautical history embodied by yours truly.
I looked around to the planes interior. I think I recall seeing bud vases. Henry and his son, Edsel, each invested $1,000 in the $20,000 ante of William Bushnel Stout. But wait! The Fords ended up buying a the Stout Metal Airplane. This proved to be a new side of Ford.. Aviation. From 1925 to 1933, Henry Ford and Company produced 199 Ford Trimotors. 'Lucky Lindy" flew the Atlantic in the 'Spirit of St. Louis' in the same era. Aviation was coming of age. I am also a Lindbergh fan.
I recall seeing the corrugated wings dance in the salty air next to the Atlantic Ocean. The trimotors of Henry Ford and his Son Edsel produced these planes at a cost of $42,000 (1933 money.") In 2013 dollars..$736,000 according to all my Ford my research in Wikipedia."Like Ford cars and tractors, these Fords planes."were well-designed, relatively inexpensive, and reliable (for the era.)"
In the late 1920s, the Ford Aircraft Division was reputedly 'the largest manufacturer in the world.'.. and to think Bob Potvin didn't fly the coop but instead enjoyed a fleeting moment as a passenger in Henry Fords Trimotor. Ford Trimotors were used exclusively by Pan American Airways, too.. and then WWII came along and FORD produced thousands of B-24 Liberator bombers. They were produced in the Willow Run, Michigan, plant under license of Consolidate Aircraft.
The genius of Henry Ford and son Edsel shaped America and the world as we've never seen before. I truly salute Henry Ford...his achievements, and his amazing Ford legacy. Today, in 2016 only18 Ford Trimotors remain.. I just wonder if one of these "babies" is the one I flew in? This is the first time I have written about this! Up, Up, And Away!
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