By Bob Walsh
I don’t much care to fly. I realize intellectually that I am much safer on the airplane than I am driving to and from the airport. Never the less I prefer the illusion of control I have when I am driving.
However, I like airplanes. I am very interested in them. Therefore I was really pleased when I saw that the Experimental Aircraft Association was going to have a Ford TriMotor at the Stockton airport for both photo ops and excursion flights.
The Trimotor was the first commercially produced all-metal multi-engine commercial airliner. A total of 199 of them were built between 1926 and 1929. They sold for $55,000 out the door. About 10% of them are still flying.
They led to (among other things) the construction of the first purpose-built passenger airline terminal and the first purpose-built airport hotel. They also led to the construction of paved runways.
This thing carries ten passengers. Two rows of five with a very narrow aisle in between. The walls are paneled and there is individual ventilation and individual seat lighting. The seats had to be replaced with slightly more conventional modern seating. The FAA has a problem with the original wicker seats. Something about fire hazard.
And this thing is loud. Many of the passengers were wearing ear plugs. A three or four hour flight in that would probably have been punishing without them.
After it was all over I got to call my dad and tell him I had just taken a ride in a commercial airliner almost as old as he was. He got a chuckle out of that. One thing I learned was that, way back when, some cities got together and bought aircraft with the specific intent of starting airline service between the two cities. The particular aircraft I flew in was one such.
All things considered it was a blast and $75 (for the ride) well spent.
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