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Back In Time
By Ben Keirn, Contributing Editor & Photographer

Ah nostalgia, the money that it has cost so many of us. We find joy in things not so new, things that remind us of our childhood, of our grandparents, or of our grandparents' grandparents. Pilots seem to be some of the worst sufferers of nostalgia. Though flying history is short, as world history goes, it is filled with amazing tales of strange machines and fantastic ingenuity. Perhaps that is why we aircraft aficionados and pilots are so keen to seek out our living history.

Aviation enthusiasts intentionally surround ourselves with antiquated conveyances, going to airshows, museums, air races, and proms. If you don't know of the proms, I suggest searching the internet for the Shuttleworth proms. We even adopted a special name for planes that are old...vintage. Meaning, like wine, the older the better!

Duralumin and count'em, one...two...three radials, sans cowling!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go visit folks who get about as excited over vintage flying tech as anybody I know. I went up to the Dekalb County Airport (KGWB) to visit the EAA's Vintage Aircraft Association Club 37. Alright, I didn't just go to visit the club, there was a special occasion. The EAA was selling rides in their Ford Trimotor 5-AT.

The line forms here; just shy of a dozen folks line up by the Trimotor for the safety briefing.

When I arrived at Auburn, they had all, save three, seats sold in the airplane for the next ride. Folks were lined up by the aircraft as I walked up. But I saw that the only seat that mattered to me was open! I may not be qualified to fly the airplane as PIC, but for a nominal fee, I could ride "shotgun."

Engines off the port and starboard, like any good, traditional multi-engine.
What makes the Ford one of a select crowd, is the additional radial prominently displayed out the front glass.

The front office of the Ford Trimotor is an interesting place to sit. Pilot and Co-pilot have the unique experience of being totally surrounded by radial engines and spinning propellers. Of course, this leads to a great cacophony, over which you can't really hear a whole lot. I can't imagine what the pilots went through back in 1928 when the airplane was new. Thankfully, modern technology has given us active noise cancellation. True, we couldn't hear the other passengers and they couldn't hear us. But the pilot and I had a good conversation and enjoyed talking about taildraggers, radial engines, and airliners through the years.

The Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum is a fixture in the area, and a valuable historic site for vintage automobile technology.

We also discussed the local sites seen from 2,000 ft. One of those sites, very fitting given our mode of transport, was the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum and National Truck Museum. Both of these museums sit on the grounds of the original Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg manufacturing facility. If you've never been, it is well worth the trip and is a short drive from Dekalb County Airport. There is, of course, the option of rental cars or a crew car from this full-service general aviation airport in Northeastern Indiana. The good folks at Century Aviation are very accommodating and quite fun to chat with. Lara and Tony both are taildragger pilots themselves, and undoubtedly fellow sufferers of bouts of nostalgia.

The striking outline of the Ford as it flies overhead
Coming in for landing, mere seconds before the great "Tin Goose" touches down

After my own trip up and about in the trimotor, I had a chance to catch the view from the ground. It is amazing how imposing this aircraft is, considering it can only seat about twelve "souls on board." Though small by today's standards, Ford Trimotors were the airliners of the rich and famous in their heyday.

Transcontinental Air Transport livery, T.A.T. for short, if not only to save paint

This particular aircraft bears the markings of a company called Transcontinental Air Transport, which used these old Fords to take passengers "from New York to L.A. in 48 hours." The intrepid flyers would ride in Fords by day, sometimes with Charles Lindbergh in formation. Then, as they slept through the night, they would travel by train to the next airport to start the next flying stage of their journey.

Modern creature comforts, a Garmin is mounted in the aircraft, and our headsets were active noise cancelling

Alas, nostalgia only lasts so long before modern conveniences and the reality we live in catches up to us. Without a doubt, it is fantastic to ride along on an airplane that is over ninety years old. But in the end, we need some help from modern times, such as the Garmin for situational awareness, and the noise cancelling headsets for safe and clear communication. Still, the Ford Trimotor 5-AT, and its little brother regularly tour the countryside with the EAA. So, if you see these fantastic machines coming to your region, make sure to experience what the elite of the late twenties experienced, and remember to be grateful for how far we've come since then.


By Ben Keirn, Contributing Editor & Photographer
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