Talk:Ford Trimotor

Byrds flight over the North Pole
Byrds claim to have flown over the North Pole is generally discredited nowadays, the speed of the Tri-Motor being insufficient to take Byrd from Spitzbergen to the North Pole and back in the 15.5 hours he was gone. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Cabdude (talk • contribs) 18:02, 29 August 2005.


 * In any case, the information was incorrect. Only one aircraft was used on that expedition, and it was a Fokker.  However, the expedition was funded by Ford, and the aircraft named after his daughter.  Fokker was so worried that the public would believe the "Josephine Ford" was the product of his competitor that he plastered his own name all over it! (see ) FiggyBee 08:38, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Infobox
I think this article needs an aircraft infobox. --JJ 00:35, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
 * ✅ --Colputt 14:47, 24 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Should the infobox "developed from" slot be filled with Stout 2-AT? Allens (talk) 01:13, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Have original plans of the ford tri-motor
Would like to find value of these were drawn by TOM TOWLE —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.32.182.79 (talk) 09:30, 6 March 2007 (UTC).

Operation History
I think that Pan Am also operated some Ford Trimotors from its beginning till 1932. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by N747pa (talk • contribs) 03:31, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

Also left out of the Operation History of the Ford Trimotor, was its use as a SmokeJumper Platform, by the U.S. Forrest Service, beginning in the late 1940s. "On June 28th, 1949, four smokejumpers from the Missoula base jumped the elipse in Washington DC between the White House and the Washington Monument." This quote comes from a photo with this note from the Missoula Smokejumper Visitor Center and is posted on their facebook page, Dated April 3.[1][ 3] There is also a reference to this in the USFS "History of Smoke Jumping".[2-pg5] As a former resident of Missoula Montana, I recall seeing several Ford Trimotor aircraft at the smokejumper base adjacent to the Missoula Airport, until June 1969 when I left the area as a student/resident. KZMike (talk) 01:10, 5 May 2014 (UTC) Michael McCulley

Air conflict?
The infobox says start date 1929, the lead 1925. Which is it? Trekphiler (talk) 22:10, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Not sure about the 1929 date the first 4-AT flew in June 1926, an earlier one-off Ford 3-AT (a three-engined version of the single-engined Stout 2-AT Pullman) had flown in 1925 but it was not exactly the same as the 4-AT and successors. Perhaps it needs to be made clearer in the intro. MilborneOne (talk) 22:40, 20 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Definitely needs clarifying. David Donald (Encyclopedia of World Aircraft {Etobicoke: Prospero, 1997}, p.859) says 2-AT Pullman entered service with Florida Airways & Ford Air Transport in '26, & it evo into 1-off 8-passenger 3-AT (with 3x149kW/200hp Whirlwind) in '25, which evo into the Ford. The Trimotor entry (p443) says the 2-AT was in production in early '25, & Ford took over manufacture, the Whirlwinds uncowled. The 4-AT first flew 11 June '26, 2 crew/8 seats, 3xJ-4 Whirlwinds; the 4-AT-B in '27 with 177kW (220hp) J-5s, 12 seats, 39 built. If that clarifies anything... Trekphiler (talk) 03:28 & 03:29, 21 January 2008 (UTC)


 * If this article is about the 4-AT onwards then we need to find out when the first 4-AT entered service? MilborneOne (talk) 12:27, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

C-1077
"Operational history" says that C-1077 was serial number 10, whereas "Survivors" says that it's Serial No. 4. Which is it? 98.110.228.2 (talk) 18:08, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I have corrected survivors to show 10 as per the FAA website . MilborneOne (talk) 18:17, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Notable appearances in the media
In the 1932 Warner Brothers film "Beauty And The Boss", a Ford 4-AT Trimotor appears right at the start of the film, including both interior and exterior shots. In this instance the engines are equipped with 3 blade propellers. I don't think it is an Avro 618. The characteristic tail gives the Ford type away. Please verify before publishing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.186.18.249 (talk) 15:29, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

in the movie "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", Indy flies with a Ford Trimotor plane from Shanghai to India. IMDB confirms this. 93.219.161.67 (talk) 14:29, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

The following is a cut and paste from a Wikipedia Article regarding the "Movie Red Skies of Montana", in which the actual Ford TriMotor used by the U.S. Forrest Service in Missoula, was used in the movie as well.

The aircraft utilized for the film's smokejumping scenes (NC8419) was a Ford Trimotor 5-AT-C actually used by the United States Forest Service in its operations.[3] The aircraft served with the USFS from June 5, 1951 to August 4, 1959, when it crashed and burned while landing at the Moose Creek spike camp airstrip in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Idaho, 50 miles west of Missoula, killing two smokejumpers and a Nez Perce National Forest supervisor.[4] — Preceding unsigned comment added by KZMike (talk • contribs) 15:42, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

???
I edited a grammatical error. A single word. A Wikipedia editor later tells me that I did so in "bad faith" and then reinstates the error. Nice work, Noah Webster. 174.84.224.81 (talk) 02:37, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: dictionaries do not agree with you, and lack of civility in calling editors "idiots" is not acceptable. FWiW Bzuk (talk) 12:50, 30 August 2012 (UTC).

British Civilian Operator
While not a reliable source, a John Player & Sons cigarette card album, date ~1935, entitled `An Album of Aeroplanes (Civil) shows on card no. 33 what appears to be Ford Trimotor (described as `Ford Air Liner') UK registration G - ABFF. This is said to be used on a regular service between London & Le Touquet (Paris). The aircraft appears to be in aluminium finish with no legible sign of ownership, although Imperial Airways-owned aircraft are similar in appearance. Do reliable sources support the operation of this aircraft type by UK-based airlines? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Barney Bruchstein (talk • contribs) 13:34, 11 October 2013 (UTC)


 * Two 4-AT-E Trimotors have appeared on the British register, G-ABEF and G-ACAK and three of the larger 5-AT-C/D G-ABFF, G-ABHO and G-ACAE:

The commercial operator was the British Air Navigation Company who flew routes out of Heston Aerodrome in the early 1930s although G-ABFF on the card was the only a demonstrator for a few months and probably didnt operate scheduled services. MilborneOne (talk) 15:49, 11 October 2013 (UTC)
 * G-ABEF 4-AT-E was a Ford demonstrator and was registered to the British agent H.S.Cooper in October 1930, operated by "British Air Navigation Company" from July 1934 until is was sold in Australia in June 1935.
 * G-ACAK 4-AT-E which was imported from Spain by H.S.Cooper in October 1932, sold in Australia in December 1934.
 * G-ABFF 5-AT-C which was imported from the US by H.S.Cooper in October 1930, re-registered G-ABHF in January 1931 and sold in Australia in October 1934.
 * G-ABHO 5-AT-C which was imported from the US by Earl of Lovelace in December 1930, to "British Air Navigation Company" in January 1934 and sold in Australia in June 1935.
 * G-ACAE 5-AT-D which was imported from the US by A.E.Guinness in 1933, impressed into RAF service in April 1940.

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External links modified (January 2018)
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Tail numbers
I spotted NC9645 flying overhead today but was surprised to see it's listed as N9645 on this page.

The Aircraft registration article includes:
 * An older aircraft (registered before 31 December 1948) may have a second letter in its identifier, identifying the category of aircraft. This additional letter is not actually part of the aircraft identification (e.g. NC12345 is the same registration as N12345). Aircraft category letters have not been included on any registration numbers issued since 1 January 1949, but they still appear on antique aircraft for authenticity purposes.

Thus, N9645 is the official registration number for that aircraft but should we be using the numbers that are painted on the aircraft? For the operational aircraft it's: --Marc Kupper&#124;talk 05:03, 15 March 2019 (UTC)
 * 1077 on the vertical stabilizer and C-1077 on the underside of the wing. No images on Commons.
 * NC 9610 No images on Commons
 * NC 9612 no category. commons:File:Ford 4-AT-E N9612 (5123792462).jpg is from 1952 and shows N 9612
 * NC8407 commons:Category:NC8407 (aircraft)
 * NC9645 commons:Category:NC9645 (aircraft) and commons:Category:N9645 (aircraft) (probably should be merged)
 * N9651 commons:Category:N9651 (aircraft)
 * NC8419 commons:Category:N8419 (aircraft) "NC8419" in very small letters on the vertical stabilizer and "U.S. Army" on the underside of the wings
 * N414H commons:Category:N414H (aircraft)


 * The FAA says that the registration is N9645. - Ahunt (talk) 16:39, 15 March 2019 (UTC)

"Short range capabilities"?
"The short-range capabilities of the Ford Trimotor were exploited in a search for the lost flyers of the Sigizmund Levanevsky trans-polar flight in 1937. Movie stunt flyer Jimmie Mattern flew a specially modified Lockheed Electra along with fellow movie flyer, Garland Lincoln, flying a stripped-down Trimotor donated by the president of Superior Oil Company. With 1,800 gallons of avgas and 450 gallons of oil in the modified cabin, the Trimotor was intended to act as a "tanker" for the expedition. The Electra was able to transfer fuel in the air from the Trimotor, through a hose cast out the 4-AT's door. With the first aerial refueling test successful, the pair of pilots set out for Fairbanks, landing first at Burwash Landing, Yukon Territory, Canada, on August 15, 1937, but the Trimotor ran out of fuel and crashed in inclement weather the following day. The Trimotor was abandoned on the tundra." Why the "short range capabilities"? Whoever heard of a plane being chosen specifically because it lacks range? I assume it means that the plane was chosen for its weight lifting/STOL capabilities as a refuelling plane to refuel the actual search planes after takeoff to extend their range, but when you first read that paragraph the implication is that the Ford accompanied the search planes and refuelled them in midair, which makes the "short range" part seem confusing. The Ford didn't have particularly short "legs" and if it did it was used in spite of them not because of them.

64.223.166.179 (talk) 21:49, 8 August 2020 (UTC)


 * It was changed from "long-range" by a vandal IP here back in 2015. It made several other vandalistic changes in subsequent edits, but only 1 was reverted. That's why it's important to check all edits a vandal makes to be sure we catch them all. Thanks for spotting that - it only took five and a half years! BilCat (talk) 22:15, 8 August 2020 (UTC)