B-17, Ford Tri-Motor May Be Coming To An Airport Near You

A classic Ford "Tin Goose" from the early days of commercial air travel is joining the Experimental Aircraft Association's restored B-17 bomber in flying across the nation, wowing spectators and educating the masses about two of the earliest and most storied flying machines.

The Tri-Motor tour includes opportunities for aviation enthusiasts to see and ride in the world's first mass-produced airliner. It begins in Elkhart, IN on August 24-28, and continues through Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee and Iowa. A few of the airports on the tour have not seen the Ford Tri-Motor on their runways for decades.

"This airplane allows people to experience true living history of aviation, as well as learn more about EAA and our mission to help people fully participate in the world of flight," said Adam Smith, director of the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, WI. "The tour is a wonderful opportunity for this region of the country to catch a rare glimpse of a unique flying machine that changed the way people travel in America."

The Ford Tri-Motor, nicknamed the "Tin Goose," was built by the Ford Motor Company in the late 1920s. EAA's airplane underwent a 12-year restoration beginning in the 1970s and since the mid-1980s, has been based at the EAA museum's historic Pioneer Airport.

At each tour stop, visitors will have the opportunity to take an eight-minute flight aboard the unique aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Experimental Aircraft Association's restored B-17 bomber "Aluminum Overcast" will continue to thrill aviation enthusiasts throughout the central and eastern United States during the second half of its fall tour stops of the 2006 "Keep It Flying" national tour.  

After participating at EAA AirVenture 2006, the tour resumed with nearly 20 stops starting in the Midwest this month. The B-17 will visit two airports per week through November, including additional appearances in Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arkansas.  

"The national tour EAA undertakes each year has become the nation's most popular way to learn about this unique aircraft in an up-close way," said EAA President Tom Poberezny. "EAA is dedicated to preserving aviation's magnificent heritage and our B-17 tours are a major part of that. This year, we also take great pride in saluting all our nation's veterans through this tour."

At each stop, flight "missions" are available in the airplane, which allow people to take flights in this spectacular aircraft. Through the past decade of national tours, the B-17 has created many emotional reunions for veterans who participated in B-17 operations during World War II... providing many of them their first "mission" in a Flying Fortress since that era.

For more information regarding these flights -- including ground tour and flight rates -- visit the respective websites at the FMI links below.

FMI: www.eaa.org, www.b17.org, www.flytheford.org