Sit in the cockpit for a ride on a 1920s vintage Ford Tri-motor airliner. Hear the throb of the Wright Whirlwind engines and watch the world go by. Shot June 28, 2012 during fly-in at Trimotor Heritage Foundation, Port Clinton, Ohio. Designed for civil aviation the Trimotor was also used by the military. Sold around the globe it was the world's first metal skinned passenger airliner. Used extensively by Pan American Airways it used to fly from Key West to Havana, Cuba. On November 27 and 28, 1929, Commander Richard E. Byrd (navigator), chief pilot Bernt Balchen, and the co-pilot and a photographer made the first flight above the Geographic South Pole in a Ford Trimotor. As for performance:
Maximum speed: 150 mph (241 km/h, 130 kts)
Cruise speed: 90 mph (145 km/h, 78 kts)
Stall speed: 64 mph (103 km/h, 56 kts)
Range: 550 mi (885 km, 478 nm)
Service ceiling: 18,500 ft (5,640 m)
For more info: www.trimotorheritagefoundation.org
