Vickers Vimy

Alcock and Brown takeoff from St. Johns, New Foundland in 1919 on their crossing of the Atlantic.

Most remembered for his solo Atlantic crossing in 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the most famous person in the world, but the truth is, Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown had flown their Vickers Vimy F.B.27, non-stop, from Lester's Field (near St Johns, New Foundland) over to Clifden, Ireland eight years earlier (June 14-15, 1919). Alcock & Brown completed their Atlantic crossing in 16 hours and 27 minutes and though it was late spring, they encountered, fog, ice conditions, and unusual winds during their journey covering 1,980 miles of mostly open ocean. For their accomplishment they were knighted by King George V and were awarded Lord Northcliffe's Daily Mail prize of £10,000, which, interestingly enough, was presented to them by Winston Churchill (Britain's Secretary of State at the time). Ironically, the military record (R.A.F.) of the Vimy had not been anything anyone would call spectacular, but the ability of the Vimy to fly great distances, reliably, put the name Vickers Vimy firmly in the history books. There was one obscure sidenote to Alcock & Brown's flight and that was they carried a small mailbag, a bag containing 197 letters to be delivered in England, and though little was made of this at the time, the US Postal Service saw a huge possibility with this seemly minor point.

After over 16 hours since leaving St Johns, Alcock and Brown made this landing in an Irish bog.

Period newspaper account of the Alcock and Brown flight:

The Conquest of the Air

"We scarcely saw the sun, or the moon, or the stars. For hours we saw none of them. The fog was very dense and at times we had to descend within 300 feet of the sea. For four hours the machine was covered in a sheet of ice, caused from frozen sleet; at another time the sleet was so dense my speed indicator did not work."

Curtis Jenny

Jennys are lined up at the factory all in various stages of construction. In total over 6,000 Curtiss Jennys were built.

Glenn Curtiss, as one of the premier aviation pioneers, has a long list of aviation firsts to his credit, including the distinction of having been issued Pilot's License #1. First becoming famous as a motorcycle racing record setter, Curtiss became interested in aircraft after having met the Wright Brothers in 1907; and then in 1908 Curtiss was lead designer and pilot of the Curtiss June Bug. Though always at odds with the Wright Brothers, particularly involving patent infringements, Glenn Curtiss still managed to develop and market several quality aircraft; but his most successful design would be the Jenny. Designed in 1914 by B. Douglas Thomas, the Curtiss "J" was sold to the US Signal Corp as their basic flight training aircraft and a few were even equipped with guns or bomb racks for use as advanced trainers. Believe it or not, between 1914 and 1918, the Curtiss Aircraft Company managed to build and deliver over 6,000 examples of the Jenny making it the most successful aircraft design of its day. There were several models of the original JN-4 built, with the earliest model "A" having a 90 hp OX engine and then later versions having ever-increasing horsepower and performance—but it was the JN-4D specifically that was the most popular of the series.

At the end of World War I, the US Signal Corp sold literally thousands of Jennys as war surplus and because there were such a large number of trained pilots after the war, matching up the two was a perfect combination. From 1918 until the mid- to late-1920s there were so many available low-cost Jennys that the new aircraft market was effectively killed in the USA.

Considering all the aircraft developed in the last 100 years, the Jenny is a true "American Classic" and certainly contributed greatly to aviation's advancement and romance from those earliest years of aviation. It was with the "Jenny" that hundreds of pilots went barnstorming across the Eastern and Midwestern United States, selling airplane rides, giving flight training, performing in summer airshows or air circuses anywhere there was an open field, but more importantly, it was these "Barnstormers" and their Jennys that introduced aviation to the average person across America.

In 1923, a young Minnesota man, newly introduced to flying, purchased an old Jenny for $400 and a Indian Motorcycle and so Charles Lindbergh had his first aircraft and he along with other pilots like him spent several summers "Barnstorming" across the Midwest. You will find that the vast majority of pilots from the Golden Age of flight learned to fly in a Curtiss Jenny (Charles Lindbergh, Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, Rosco Turner, and Jimmy Doolittle, just to name a few).

The "Jenny" was a easy flyer, with a 60+ mph cruise, a low stall speed of about 35 mph, and the JN-4H model, with its 150 hp Hispano-Suiza engine (built by the Wright Aircraft Company), was capable of performing some basic aerobatic maneuvers, even a loop, in the right hands of course.

The final model of the Jenny, the JN-5, was used primarily by the US Postal Service as a mail plane, but due to its slow speed was replaced by the faster deHavilland DH-4 in the mid-1920s. What finally killed the Jenny was the Air Commerce Act of 1926 and even though the Jenny was grandfathered in, owners of this aircraft found it ever increasingly difficult to pass the annual inspection.

Hundreds and maybe even thousands of aircraft have been developed in the last 100 years, and of all these aircraft, the Curtiss Jenny is certainly one of the most important and influential aircraft of all time.

Ryan NYP

Born on February 4, 1902 (Detroit, Michigan) Charles Augusta Lindbergh grew up on a small Minnesota farm and was the son of a Minnesota Congressman. After quitting college (majoring in Engineering) Charles purchased his first aircraft, a Curtiss Jenny, in 1923 and spent his first year as a pilot, barnstorming the Midwest, and then entering the US Army Air Corp in 1924. Taking his military flight training in San Antonio, Texas, Lindbergh graduated best in his class, but went on to fly the US Mail were his interest in going for the $25,000 Orteig Prize developed.

In 1919, a New York City hotel owner, Raymond Orteig, established the $25,000 Orteig prize for the pilot/s and plane that completed the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris (or vica-versa). The flight distance was 3,610 miles and though there had been 12 successful aerial crossing of the Atlantic by 1927, none had been non-stop from New York to Paris, thus qualifying to win the Orteig Prize.

With the support of several St. Louis, Missouri businessmen, the Ryan Airline Company (San Diego, California) was contracted to build the aircraft needed to make the flight that Charles Lindbergh was sure could be done. Donald Hall, under the direction of Lindbergh, designed the Ryan NYP based on their (Ryan Airline Company) R-2 monoplane.

Building the Ryan NYP "Spirit of St Louis" required a little less than 90 days, but several other flying groups, all much more famous than the unheard of Charles Lindbergh, were getting ready to make the flight. Noel Davis and Stanton Wooster had built an aircraft (Keystone Aircraft Company) that would surely have the necessary range, but they were both killed when they crashed the plane in Langley, Virginia while testing with full fuel tanks in April (1927). On May 8th, Charles Nungesser (France's 2nd high scoring WWI ace) along with Francios Coli took off from Le Bourget Field, heading toward New York, the same day Charles Lindbergh left from San Diego for Roosevelt Field (Long Island, New York). When Charles Lindbergh arrived in St Louis, word was out that Nungesser and Coli were hours overdue to New York and though ships at sea searched for days, nothing of Nungesser-Coli or their aircraft was ever seen again.

Once Lindbergh arrived in New York, he immediately went about getting ready for the Atlantic Crossing, but his trip to New York had set several records, including the trans-America (San Diego to New York) speed record of 20 hours 21 minutes (flight time). On the early morning (7:52 AM) of May 20th, Charles Lindbergh and the "Spirit of St Louis" took off from a muddy Roosevelt Field (Long Island, New York), barely clearing the power lines at the north end, started his 33 hour 30 minute flight to Paris. After struggling against icing conditions, instrument failure, fog, and the lack of sleep, Lindbergh crossed the Irish coast at Dingle Bay, just 2 miles off his planned course and 5 hours ahead of schedule. Arriving at Le Bourget Field in Paris at 10:21 PM local time on May 21st, Lindbergh was met by thousands of excited spectators (estimated at over 100,000 people) screaming his name; "...Lindbergh, Lindbergh, Lindbergh...!"

The French government awarded Charles Lindbergh the French Cross of the Legion d'Honneur and Great Britain gave him the Royal Air Force Cross. The United States also awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor and the first-ever Distinguished Flying Cross.

Upon his return to the US, "Lucky Lindy" was honored by a New York City ticker tape parade, attended by an estimated 4 million Americans, then Charles flew the "Spirit" on a 3-month 48 state tour, financed by the Daniel Guggenheim fund. During the US tour, Charles Lindbergh landed in all 48 states, gave dozens and dozens of speeches, and traveled nearly 1,300 miles in parades. The world's first "super-star" was born!

Of the four Ryan NYPs built*, the original (and the one that Lindbergh flew in 1927) is at the National Air & Space Museum (Washington, DC), the second was lost in an arson fire (San Diego) in 1979, and the third is on display in the lobby of the San Diego Aerospace Museum at Balboa Park (California). A fourth non-flying replica was recently constructed and delivered to the San Diego Airport (Lindbergh Field) in 1999. The second Ryan NYP (the one lost in the fire) logged several hours, including time flying in and around Paris, France, the third NYP was taken down from its display on July 3, 2003 (San Diego Aerospace Museum) and is currently being prepped for a August (2003) flight, planned in celebration for the 75th Anniversary of the commemoration of Lindbergh Field. Despite officially being considered replicas, the two additional copies were built by or with the assistance of the original Ryan construction crew using the original assembly jigs. The fourth non-flying Ryan NYP was built by San Diego Aerospace Museum volunteers in 1999.

More than anything else, it was Lindbergh's flight that firmly established the future of aviation in the minds of the general public and though the remainder of Lindbergh's life would be strife with controversy and tragedy, Charles Lindbergh's contribution to aviation can never be understated.

*On June 2, 2003, 59 year old Pierre Hollander (Sweden) was flying his beautiful Ryan NYP (an exact replica of the original "Spirit of St Louis") at a Coventry Airshow (England) when seconds after a routine takeoff, the starboard wing inexplicably folded and Pierre received fatal injuries from the subsequent crash. Our sincere condolences to the Hollander family.

Piper J3 Cub

It was estimated that 75% of the pilots (American) in World War II, learned to fly or had their first flight experience in a Piper Cub and after the war, the Piper Cub became so common place by the mid 1950s, that it was the generic term for all small aircraft. The production of the J-3 version (with a 40 horsepower Continental, Lycoming, or Franklin engine) began in 1938, the original J-3 Cub was manufactured up until 1947, when the J-4 and later the "SuperCub" were put into the production.

Lockheed Vega

First taking to the air in July of 1927, the Lockheed Vega was intended as a transport aircraft, but would be best remembered for its many record breaking flights, including those made famous by Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart in the 1930s. Designed by John (Jack) Northrop (later to be the designer of the flying wing under his company Northrop Aviation) and Gerrard Vultee, the Vega was a huge aircraft having a 41 foot wingspan and standing just over 27 feet tall, the Lockheed Vega had a gross takeoff weight that tipped the scales at near 4,200 pounds. Able to achieve a top speed of 180-185 mph (best cruise was 140 mph @ 5,000 feet) the Vega proved itself to be a very reliable aircraft powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp (450 hp PWR-1340) radial engine and despite its rated 20,000 foot service ceiling, Wiley Post was able to set an altitude record of 55,000 feet with his Vega 5B "Winnie Mae" in 1933.

As previously mentioned the Vega was intended as a transport aircraft and several airlines (like TWA, Continental, and Braniff, among others) found the Vega to be an excellent aircraft, capable of carrying 4-6 passengers and 2 crew over a fair distance (725 nm range). Other aircraft, the Ford Tri-Motor and Douglas DC-2 specifically, would out perform the Vega, if not in speed, certainly in their passenger carrying ability and these aircraft would be far more popular with the airlines. In all, there were 198 Vegas built and today barely a handful still exist, most of which are in museums.

Wiley Post

Wiley Post, born in 1898 to a Grand Saline, Texas farming family, would become one of the Golden Age of Aviation's most famous aviators and nearly all of his record breaking flights would be made with a Lockheed Vega 5B. First becoming interested in aviation in 1913, after seeing his first airplane at a local county fair, Wiley Post would eventually overcome his humble beginnings and make his mark on aviation history. My own father once told me that of all the people he has met or known in his 87 years, it was Wiley Post he most admired and identified with and in most ways my own father's youth was very similar to Wiley's. My father's first ever flight (at the young age of 11) was in a Curtiss Cannuck (Jenny) piloted by Wiley Post in 1927.

Wiley first entered aviation when a barnstorming traveling troops had their skydiver injured at an Oklahoma airshow so Wiley volunteered to replace him, but after making 99 jumps over the next summer, Wiley was convinced he wanted to be a pilot. Lacking the funds to buy an airplane, Wiley went back to work in the oil fields to earn the necessary money to do so (purchase an aircraft). In 1926, Wiley was involved in an accident, on an oil rig, where his left eye was punctured by a steel sliver and when an infection set in, endangering both eyes, Wiley gave permission to have his left eye removed. In today's world, this injury would prevent a person from passing their medical for their pilot's license, but in 1926 it was not considered a disabling injury though Wiley had to learn how to land using the height of trees, buildings, and/or telephone poles due to his total lack of depth perception. With the $1,800 he received from worker's compensation, Wiley purchased his first airplane, a Curtiss Cannuck (Canadian Jenny) and over the next few years Wiley made a meager living as a flight instructor, booking charter flights, and barnstorming.

In 1930, Wiley went to work for oilman F.C. Hall and it turned out that F.C. Hall owned a Lockheed Vega named "Winnie Mae" (after his daughter, Winnie Mae Hall) and because Hall rarely flew the Vega, he encouraged Wiley to fly the aircraft whenever he was not using it. In late 1930, Wiley entered the prestigious Men's Air Derby Race from Los Angeles to Chicago and won the race by a 1 and 1/2 hour margin and Hall was so impressed by Wiley's win that he told him to use the Vega to enter any race or go after any record he wished.

On June 23rd, 1931, Wiley took off from Roosevelt Field (same airfield Lindbergh took off from 4 years earlier on his historic New York to Paris flight) to break the around the world record of 20 days 4 hours. Flying with navigator Harold Gatty, Wiley landed 8 days 15 hours and 51 minutes back at Roosevelt Field to break the around the world flight time by nearly 12 days. Though Wiley and Harold Gatty were now household names, most felt that Harold was the brains behind the flight because of Wiley's humble rural upbringing and limited level of education. Wiley was unable to find backers for his desire to open an aeronautical school for the same reasons, so Wiley decided to prove his detractors wrong by repeating his around the world flight, solo!

In 1933, flying the Winnie Mae, which was now equipped with two new instruments (the Sperry Gyroscope autopilot and Sperry Radio Direction Finder), Wiley Post set a new around the world solo flight record, besting his own pace from two years before by 21 hours.

During many of his record runs, Wiley had correctly calculated that great speeds could be attained if you maintained high altitude, so Wiley felt that having a pressurized atmosphere (aircraft cabin) was needed. Lacking the money to convert the Winnie Mae, Wiley turned to the commercial deepsea divers and developed a pressure suit (with assistance from B.F. Goodrich) to maintain his body at a 5,500 foot atmosphere with the aircraft flying at or above 30,000 feet. During one of his runs at breaking the trans-continental record of 9 hours 45 minutes, Wiley proved his altitude theory when he recorded a ground speed of 340 mph in the Winnie Mae, but despite four attempts, he never broke the trans-continental record due to either mechanical problems or in one case sabotage by a rival flyer.

In 1935, Wiley was hired by long-time friend Will Rodgers (Oklahoma professional cowboy and nationally known humorist) to do a tour of Alaska, as Rodgers was searching for new material for his newspaper column. Wiley built a hybrid aircraft from two different Lockheeds, combining the fuselage from an Orion with the wings from an Explorer aircraft. The special pontoons ordered for the aircraft never arrived, so Wiley fit a set of floats that were much longer than needed. With these long floats mounted, Wiley noted the aircraft was difficult to trim from its nose-heavy attitude, but they made the trip anyway and it was during takeoff from a Northern Alaska lake, just outside of Point Barrow, that Wiley lost control and crashed, killing both he and Will Rodgers. Today, Wiley Post's original Lockheed Vega "Winnie Mae" is located at the National Air & Space Museum (Smithsonian).

Amelia Earhart

Another famous pilot-aviator of this era, flying the Lockheed Vega, was of course Amelia Earhart. Born in 1897, at Atchison, Kansas, Amelia first became interested in aviation in 1920 when she was 23 years old. After learning to fly in a Curtiss Jenny from her flight instructor, Anita "Neta" Snook, Amelia recieved her license in 1921 and soon after purchased her first airplane, a Kinner Airster.

A year after Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic in 1927, Amelia was picked as the only passenger on a Fokker F.VII, which was actually flown by Wilmer Stutz and flying mechanic Lou Gordon. The Fokker (called "Friendship") was owned by Amy Guest, whom had purchased the Fokker to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic, but when her family refused to allow Amy to fly, Amelia was picked to replace her. After the flight, Amelia was called "Lady Lindy" in the newspapers, but Amelia was very annoyed and embarrassed by all the attention paid her, when the fact was she had nothing to do with flying the aircraft other than to sit in her seat and keep quiet, fulfilling her duties as "baggage", to use Amelia's own words.

In 1929, Amelia co-founded the "Ninety-Nines" organization, an organization that had the goal of advancing the participation and notoriety of women in aviation. In 1929 there were 117 woman licensed aviators in the USA and 99 of them were charter members of this organization, hence the name "Ninety-Nines". It was after forming the Ninety-Nines, that Amelia purchased a Lockheed Vega and began her record breaking flights, the first being on July 6th, 1930 when she set the women's speed record of 181 mph. A year later (April 8th, 1931) Amelia set the autogyro world's altitude record of 18,451 feet, but it was on the 5th anniversary of Lindbergh's historic flight (May 20-21, 1932) that Amelia became only the second person (and first woman) to cross the Atlantic, solo!

For her Atlantic solo crossing, Amelia received the National Geographic Society Medal from President Hoover and the Distinguished Flying Cross from the US Congress (first ever awarded to a woman).

After her solo Atlantic crossing, Amelia went about setting one record after another, starting with the women's trans-continental speed record from Los Angeles to Newark (New Jersey) in August of 1932 of 19 hours 5 minutes and then with a new Vega (her second one) broke this record with a 17 hour 7 minute trans-continental flight in July of 1933. Amelia continued to set records and to promote the idea of woman aviators, of whom she strongly felt could compete on an equal footing with men, so after record breaking (solo) flights from Los Angeles to Mexico City and Mexico City to Newark, following her solo flight across the Pacific in 1935, from Hawaii to San Francisco (the first ever by anyone), that Amelia began planning her around-the-world flight.

Amelia Earhart's planned circumnavigation of the earth was to be done at or near the equator, making the flight distance of just over 29,000 miles the longest ever attempted by anyone. Modifying a newly purchased Lockheed Electra 10E twin-engined aircraft to include additional fuel tanks, which would greatly extend the Electra's range, Amelia and her navigator Fred Noonan, started their flight on March 17, 1937 in Oakland (California), but blew a tire and damaged the landing gear at Honolulu. Returning to Oakland, to have the aircraft repaired, Amelia and Fred decided to travel to Miami, Florida for further modifications before re-starting their flight. Finally, on June 1st (1937), Amelia and Noonan left Miami (flying West to East this time) for their first stop in San Juan, Puerto Rico and it was at San Juan that Amelia was quoted as saying this was to be her last "stunt" long distance flight and she planned on retiring once it was finished.

After having completed 22,000 miles of their flight, Amelia and Fred left Lae, New Guinea on July 1st, for the longest and most dangerous leg of their circumnavigation. From Lae, the next stop was tiny Howland Island, 2,556 miles to the East and it was on this leg that Amelia Earhart, along with her navigator Fred Noonan, disappeared. After years of speculation, including rumors of Amelia having been captured by the Japanese and later dying in a Japanese prison, the truth is, Amelia and Fred in all likelihood encountered severe weather and simply ran out of fuel and then crashed in the ocean. Their last radio transmissions would tend to support this.

deHavilland "Comet" air racer

In 1934, to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the founding of Australia, Sir MacPherson Robertson provided prize money to the winner of a London (Mildenhall) to Melbourne air race (Victorian Centenary Air Race). The deHavilland Aircraft Company developed the DH-88 "Comet" specifically for this long distance air race and after having received 3 orders for the "Comet", deHavilland went about getting them built.

One of the purchasers, A.O. Edwards, worked for Grosvenor House Hotel (managing director) and it was Mr. Edwards that secured sponsorship from the hotel. Jim and Amy Mollison bought the second DH88 and theirs was painted black with the name "Black Magic" on either side of the fuselage. Benard Rubin, buyer of the third DH88, hired pilots Owen Cathcart-Jones and Ken Waller to compete in the race and his Comet had the issued registration numbers; G-ASCR on the side.

The start of the race was to be October 20th (1934) and the three Comets gained their airworthiness certificates barely a week or so prior. It would be "Grosvenor House" (pilots W.A. Scott and T. Campbell Black) that would set a new speed record getting to Melborne, a record of 70 hours 54 minutes, thus winning the MacPherson prize money. Jim and Amy Mollison (Black Magic) had an engine failure near Allahabad (Persia) and landed there, with Jones and Waller getting lost on at least two occasions, continued to struggle along and finally finished 4th overall.

Jones and Waller immediately turned around, after arriving in Melborne, and returned to London, setting a round-trip record of just over 13 days.

Of the 64 entrants, only 21 aircraft started, with 9 finishing the 11,400 mile race and behind the winning deHavilland and in a close second was a Douglas DC-2 (Royal Dutch Airlines), and in third a Boeing 247D flown by the flamboyant Roscoe Turner of the United States.

Following the Victorian Centenary Air Race (London to MelBourne), deHavilland received 2 more orders for the DH88 Comet, one from the French government where the aircraft was to be used as a mail plane and the second from Cyril Nicholson who sponsored a London-Cape (South Africa) race. After having failed on the first attempt, the Nicholson sponsored Comet tried a second attempt at the London-Cape air race (1935), but the crew bailed out of the aircraft over Sudan.

Today, the original bright red "Grosvenor House" DH88 Comet is located at the Shuttleworth Trust in Old Warden, Bedfordshire, England, while other surviving DH88s are either at museums or are being restored. Several replicas have been built and at least 2 replicas are flying today, including a replica of the "Grosvernor House" DH88 by Bill Turner of Riverside, California and it was this replica that I speculate Microsoft used to build the COF model.

The original deHavilland DH88 Comet was powered by twin high compression 224 hp Gypsy Six R deHavilland engines. Each engine was equipped with a Ratier 2-position propeller (preset in fine pitch before takeoff, the prop automatically went into coarse pitch once 150 mph had been achieved) and this gave the DH88 "Comet" a top speed (level flight) of 237 mph. The aircraft was also equipped with retractable landing gear (manual crank only) and slotted or split trailing edge landing flaps.

When deHavilland went about designing this aircraft, speed and range were their primary goal, so the tandem seats were well set back in the fuselage and having the fuel tanks mounted forward of the cockpit over the wing spars.

Because of the DH88's long tapered wings combined with its non-counter rotating engines, the ground, takeoff, and landing flight characteristics of the DH88s was a little more than just a handful. Taxi and takeoff directional control was best accomplished by differential power, as was landing.

Ford Trimotor

There are a lot of people that assume that Henry Ford invented the automobile and of course that is not true, but he did invent a car manufactured in such a way, that even the people on the assembly line building them could afford to purchase one for themselves. This simple philosophy revolutionized the automobile industry and put America and Americans behind the wheel of their own personal car.

In the year 1899, Henry Ford his first car company was called "Detroit Automobile Company" was a complete failure and by the end of 1899 had closed its doors, then in 1900 (with outside financers) started his first semi-successful automobile manufacturing company, called simply the "Henry Ford Company", but in 1902, after months of arguing with his backers, Henry Ford was fired. (the Henry Ford Company went on to become Cadillac Motor Car Company, eventually to be bought up by General Motors)

Finally, in 1908, Henry Ford started a automobile manufacturing company for the third time (Ford Motor Company) and this time it was successful beyond belief. Their first car was the Model "T" or "Tin Lizzie" and over the next 20 years Ford would sell 17,000,000 of these cars.

In the early 1920s, Henry Ford, always the visionary, came to the conclusion that aviation would be the key to fast transportation in the future and not just in America, but to the world as a whole. It was in late 1925 that Ford aquired the Stout Aircraft Company which only that year introduced the model 2-AT (Air Transport) Tri-motor. Henry Ford pushed Stout into redesigning it and by January of 1926, the Ford 3-AT took to the air, but it was a dismal failure. Henry fired Stout and then went about designing his own aircraft and by June of 1926, the 4-AT version was ready. Between 1926 and 1929, a total of 80 Ford Tri-motor 4-ATs would be built (replaced in 1929 by the 5-AT of which 117 would be manufactured) with the first being powered by three 200 hp Wright Wasp engines and capable of carrying 8 passengers and 2 crew members, but eventually the 4-AT would grow into a 12 passenger aircraft with 450 horsepower engines.

The Ford Tri-motor or "Tin Goose" would be the first passenger airliner built in America and the success of this aircraft is now a part of aviation history. A key to the success of this aircraft was how it established confidence in air travel, at a time when the public was beginning to believe that air travel was nothing more than a group of courageous (or crazy) pilots flying a series of dangerous stunts.

In 1925, Henry Ford arranged a series of introduction flights or "Air Safety Tours" with the Ford Tri-motor (using the 2-AT in the beginning), to prove its worth as a viable and safe mode of transportation. To further gain confidence with the public, Ford set up a scheduled run called, "Coast-to-Coast in 48 hours" in 1928. This flight was actually a combination of train and air travel, as the Tin Goose was only used during daylight hours while the overnight travel was on the train. Starting in New York City, passengers would have an overnight trip, by train, to Columbus, Ohio. There passengers were taken to the airport and would fly all day to Waynoka, Kansas to board a train that would travel all night to Clovis, New Mexico, to once again have the passengers board a Ford Tri-motor, that would take the passengers the remaining distance to Los Angeles. The total trip from New York to Los Angeles would require just a bit less than 48 hours. (The coast-to-coast trip made entirely by train required about 4 days, so this plane-train combination cut the travel time in half.)

From 1925 until the mid to late 1930s, the Ford Tri-motor proved itself over and over again as a safe and reliable aircraft and there was even one incident, in 1956, where a 5-AT (christened the "City of Philadelphia" by movie actress Gloria Swanson in 1929) lost the portside engine while flying to Clovis from Los Angeles. When I say "lost", I mean that literally, as the engine simply fell off and crashed to the ground while the pilot flew the aircraft on to the next airport and landed without mishap!

Today there are somewhere near a dozen Ford Tri-motors still flying, including one belonging to the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association), and today a restored Tri-motor will bring 1.2 to 1.5 million dollars (US) at auction, which is a far cry more than they cost when new.

Douglas DC-3

The story of the DC3, like all of the historic aircraft in "The Century of Flight," is well told in the "Learning Center" that is a new feature of FS2004, so I won't duplicate that here. Suffice to say that the DC3 was a quantum leap forward from the Ford Trimotors and Junkers JU52s that dominated the fledgling airline industry in the 1930's. Offering a comfort level, speed, load capacity and reliability that had never been approached by previous airliners, (not even the DC2 - the predecessor of the "stretched" and more refined design that became the DC3) the new Douglas design would dominate the airline industry for twenty years and was still profitably hauling passengers in some regions well into the 1980s.

If you want more than historical data about the DC3, then I strongly recommend that you obtain one of the greatest aviation books ever written, "Fate is the Hunter" by Ernest Gann. (A new reprint is available on Amazon.com) Gann is not only a superb storyteller and writer, but was an airline pilot when the transition from DC2 and Trimotor was in process and flew as a first officer and then captain on DC3's until World War II when he advanced to four engine transports like the C54. No more vivid first person account has ever been written of what those pioneering airline days were like when the first generation of barnstorming heroes were giving way to the business-like, professional pilots of a later era. In that "in between time" there was still romance and danger alongside of the "routine" of normal airline operations. If you have never read this great aviation classic, you are in for a treat that is almost as good as flying the actual airplane itself. (And a lot easier on the arms I can assure you).

But there's more to the DC3 story than airline operations. In its time the DC3 has served as a:

Freighter – a hero of flying the Hump, the Berlin Airlift, the tragic attempt to resupply surrounded French troops at Dien Bien Phu, and a vital part of the development of remote regions of Alaska, Africa, Latin America and almost anywhere else in the world you can imagine including ski-equipped operations in Antarctica. (You haven't lived until you've seen a US Navy "Gooney bird" loaded with fuel and firing JATO rockets to get it airborne hugely overloaded on a ferry flight to McMurdo Sound for the Antarctic flying season!)

Paratroop aircraft – The main transport in such famous airborne operations as Sicily, Normandy, Arnhem, the Rhine and Dien Bien Phu

Gunship – "Spooky" or "Puff the Magic Dragon", the famous (or "infamous" if you were a member of Viet Cong) defender of isolated bases spouting forth fire and death from sideways firing machine guns and Gatling guns.

Flare-Ship – a vital role that she played in both Korea and Vietnam, lighting the night skies in support of ground troops.

Development and Training – as a test-bed for developments like turbine engines (RR Dart among others) or with a pointed nose mounting radar used for training NATO F104G pilots.

Ag aircraft – yes I do mean "ag" as in "agricultural" aircraft. The DC3 I had the privilege of flying, ZK-CAW, was purchased after our company went out of business by the New Zealand "ag" operator FieldAir Ltd and dropped thousands of tons of fertilizer (superphosphate) on farms throughout New Zealand before ending her days as part of a McDonald's Restaurant in Taupo, New Zealand.