Take A Ride In An Antique Aircraft This Weekend At The CAF – [VIDEO]

Do you love old airplanes? Are you a history buff who knows every aircraft ever made and how it figures into history? This weekend, you can experience the golden age of aviation and take flight in a Ford Tri-Motor, giving passengers an opportunity to travel back to the early days of luxurious commercial flight.

The Ford Tri-Motor is ready for a sunset test hop. Book a flight this weekend at the Museum. Www.flytheford.org Free museum admission this weekend, too! Even if you don't fly, come see this rare and historic airplane!

Henry Ford mobilized millions of Americans and created a new market with his Model T “Tin Lizzie” automobile from 1909 to 1926. After World War I, he recognized the potential for mass air transportation.

Ford’s Tri-Motor aircraft, nicknamed “The Tin Goose,” was designed to build another new market, airline travel. To overcome concerns of engine reliability, Ford specified three engines and added features for passenger comfort, such as an enclosed cabin. The first three Tri-Motors built seated the pilot in an open cockpit, as many pilots doubted a plane could be flown without direct “feel of the wind.”

From 1926 through 1933, Ford Motor Company built 199 Tri-Motors. EAA’s model 4-AT-E was the 146th off Ford’s innovative assembly line and first flew on August 21, 1929. It was sold to Pitcairn Aviation’s passenger division, Eastern Air Transport, whose paint scheme is replicated on EAA’s Tri-Motor. This is why EAA’s Ford resides in the Pitcairn Hangar at Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, when not touring the U.S. Eastern Air Transport later became Eastern Airlines.