Ford Tri-Motor...... What a Weekend!

[Geico266]

EAA Chapter #569 (Lincoln, NE) hosted the Ford Tri-Motor this past weekend offering rides to the public. What a weekend! After 7 months of planning and hard work by our Chapter Pres. the weekend was finally here. We completed nearly 75 rides carrying nearly 750 people. This included wheel chair bound folks, to the elderly, to 3 year old kids, some times using "hot turns" with two engines running! MANY first time flyers! No one problems, and no unhappy customers (that I'm reporting anyway!) A good time was had by all, and we had great sponsership support by local businesses and Ford dealers. Great press coverage. This was a huge success for our EAA Chapter. THANKS EAA! And a great promotion for general aviation in this area.

Very interesting and rich history concerning this "Tin Goose" Ford Tri-Motor and I won't bore you with the details, but if you ever get a change to ride on the ol gal it is a hoot. I was fortunate to get the right seat and got some stick time. Armstrong controls for sure!

http://j.b5z.net/i/u/2048250/i/Tri-motor.JPG

http://j.b5z.net/i/u/2048250/i/Guard_Base.JPG

http://j.b5z.net/i/u/2048250/i/Old_Fords.JPG

I wonder if those 450HP P&W's would fit on my 9A?

Okay, I'll bore you with one of the many fun stories. An 86 year young lady came up to us and told us about being being 14 and sneaking out of the house to go for a ride in this very Tri-Motor because; "There were cute boys going too". (Somethings never change huh? ) I asked here if she had brought a permission slip from home to ride the airplane this time.

[rgbewley]

Chapter 10 hosted the Tri-Motor in Tulsa the weekend before. Glad it was successful for your chapter. I took my 6 year old boy for a a ride on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Something you should definitely do! Not to mention that CAF had a nicely restored B-24 bomber here at the same time. Not very many six yer olds that have been lucky enough to sit in the pilot's seat of one of those. He kept asking if he could climb up front to the gunner's position though! Great experience all the way around, and a good way to help your local EAA chapter too!

[Geico266]

We heard the Tulsa did 21 "missions" in a day. We were pretty happy with 25 on Sat & 30 on Sunday. Wind blew hard on Thursday afternoon & all day Friday.