The Ford Barn

woofa.express · 11-09-2021, 10:35 PM

I was considered a hoon and maybe still am.

When I was young I flew low over our farm, it was milking time. Dad was amused but not when the milkers told him all the cows kicked off the cups and there was cow shit everywhere. A local farmer who lived nearby saw this. His claim to fame was he could fly an aeroplane. He said I only just missed the tree tops and I was a hoon.

When I was 20 I became a cropduster and spent the next 52 years only just missing the trees tops.

Patrick L. · 11-10-2021, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Moose

OK. Not real old, but old for me...

It was about 1983, and we had taken a 1960 CE 210 in trade. Not by me.

For reasons I can't remember, I flew it once. Avionics repair, ferry flight, I don't remember. Garish maroon velvet interior, old paint, radios leftover from the Hindenburg. Pre flight was ok, flew fine. The 1960 was essentially a 182 with 260 hp, the most convoluted retractable gear ever, and a bulbous nose gear door that made the airplane look like a pelican in flight.

The airplane doesn't sell, and we have to give it an annual. Once all the panels are off, the lead mechanic calls me over.

"You gotta see this"

First stop is the engine bay. There is a plastic shell 2 D cell flashlight laying inbetween the 2nd and 3rd cylinders on the left side. It's been there long enough to partially melt into the gap.

Next stop, the floor between the seat rows. He has me look though the open inspection plate and down amongst all the hydraulics and cylinders and downlocks is a shiny chromed combination wrench.

Then he says "operate the mixture control." So I do. "Now go look in the engine bay while I do it"

OMG.

The cable where it exits the housing is frayed, and when he pushes it to full rich the frayed portion bends about 90 degrees (It should stay rigid and straight) and looks like its going to separate in 10 flight hours. Maybe.

As we walk around the plane further, he say something like "this plane is so f'd up, I bet the spar is cracked" and he wobbles the horizontal stabilizer. His face goes white. There's just a little too much wobble. "It is" he whispers. Can't be. I wobble the right and left and compare them. Scary. One is rigid, the other is attached, but springy. Ugh. De skin the entire surface and replace the spar.

Pencil whipped annual inspections are real. It had flown 15 hours since the last annual. And he didn't even up the empty weight for the flashlight and the wrench.

2nd oldest airplane I ever flew.

Pencil annuals ? Yep, they still happen all to frequently. Some folks seem to think they are worth it, I happen to think they are a huge waste of good money.

Patrick L. · 11-10-2021, 08:28 AM

Old airplanes and their stories.
My grandfather built his first airplane during the winter of 1918-19. All airplanes of the time had 2 of those wing thingys. The plane was built in the garage, Studebaker garage. It took up quite a bit of room. Since it wouldn't fit thru the door when finished, rather than remove the wings he took the wall apart between a set of windows. He built that garage himself out of cider blocks and when it went back together you see the difference in the joints for the next 70 years until the building was torn down. He powered it with a little Lawrence engine that is now in the Glenn Curtiss museum. Oh, the plane ended up being burned down after a couple years by one of the mechanics trying to refuel it while smoking.

Jim Brierley · 11-10-2021, 12:39 PM

In 1928 my Dad worked for Bach Aircraft in Santa Monica, CA. Bach made a tri-motor that Dad claimed was far superior to the Ford. It had more power for one thing. Bach came to an end when a mechanic laid a hot soldering iron on the fabric-covered wing while working on a wing tip light. The plane was quickly on fire, soon the hole area was on fire, 55 gallon drums of av-gas were exploding, some went up into the air. No more Bach Aircraft! Dad told stories about him throwing black carbon out of a plane while a movie was being made, to simulate a burning plane. Dad was born in 1907, in England. Just think of all the things he witnessed in his 85 years on this earth! Aircraft was in its infancy, as were cars. He was around long enough to fly in jumbo jets and drive turbo-charged diesels. He drove trucks for many years, and would tell us about trucks being able to haul tons of material at the astounding speed of 15 MPH and do that for hours on end! Of course we thought that was funny, he'd look us right in the eyes and say "a horse can't do that".

ericr · 11-10-2021, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SHEC

What, you can’t believe Dad drove an Auburn instead of a Model A? 🤔😂

LOL I have a photo of him in a Model A roadster that he rented while out of state in college.

Auburns could a sporty car, often with multi-toned color schemes and lighter colors. It had freewheeling and a cut-out which he would open up when out in the country. Mom said the noise was like riding in the cab of a locomotive of the day.

woofa.express · 11-13-2021, 12:07 AM

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

TV nil, Internet documentaries and history-100.

A documentary on YouTube had just finished and I accepted a random suggestion of an aeroplane builder, replicating to perfection, WW1 aeroplanes. A fly past showing nine of these full size replicas is pictured below.
I went to the internet on my computer to find this link but was unsuccessful at first but found many pages on this man. His name is Peter Jackson: a New Zealander. He has more than aeroplane building as his claim to fame, the other being a movie director and it seems like he is a successful one too. Twenty six movies in all according to Wikipedia. Many well known but undoubtably the most widely acknowledged is the Lord of the Rings. From his picture also at the bottom of this story you will see he even looks like a hobbit. He also won an academy for best picture. But it is the aeroplanes I wish to write of.

The TV internet link is listed below. In addition to this one link there is so much about early aeroplanes and Peter Jackson all readers will be truly amazed. Do go and check it out. gary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gmZ9X9Aplk

rotorwrench · 11-13-2021, 11:02 AM

When Henry Ford got involved with the Stout Metal Airplane Co, he was interested in manufacturing a small airplane that could be sold cheaply to the masses like the Model T Ford. William Stout wanted nothing to do with that since he was more interested in building larger aircraft. Henry had the Ford Flivver built anyway and it went though various testing and demonstration flights to garner public interest. The machine was a low wing monoplane and short in fuselage length. Henry wanted it small so as to fit in a large garage. The thing had stability issues but would fly. Charles Lindberg flew the thing to see how it handled and he was not impressed. He said it was one of the worst designs he had ever flown. Considering how the Spirit of Saint Louis flew then that is a pretty bad opinion of the design. The Ryan NYP was a handful so his opinion of the Flivver was not a good one. Eventually, Ford's test pilot, Harry Brooks, made the mistake of putting tooth picks in the fuel tank cap to keep moisture from getting in there but forgot to remove them. He was killed in the crash after the engine quit from fuel starvation so that put a stop to the Flivver.

Bill Stout designed the Sky Car which likely was a usable design after several design changes but Ford didn't produce it. Stout went on to develop it on his own after he left Ford Motor Co.

Later in 1936, Ford built a prototype of a V8 powered Model 15-P aircraft that was basically a tail-less wing design and it barely got off the ground before it crashed. That was pretty much as far as Ford went in aviation till the bomber plant was built.

11-09-2021, 10:35 PM	#21
woofa.express Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Tocumwal, NSW, Australia Posts: 1,749	Re: Demise of the Ford Tri-Motor I was considered a hoon and maybe still am. When I was young I flew low over our farm, it was milking time. Dad was amused but not when the milkers told him all the cows kicked off the cups and there was cow shit everywhere. A local farmer who lived nearby saw this. His claim to fame was he could fly an aeroplane. He said I only just missed the tree tops and I was a hoon. When I was 20 I became a cropduster and spent the next 52 years only just missing the trees tops. __________________ I know many things, But I don't know everything, Sometimes I forget things. And there are times when I have a long memory.

11-10-2021, 08:28 AM	#23
Patrick L. Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Largo Florida Posts: 7,225	Re: Demise of the Ford Tri-Motor Old airplanes and their stories. My grandfather built his first airplane during the winter of 1918-19. All airplanes of the time had 2 of those wing thingys. The plane was built in the garage, Studebaker garage. It took up quite a bit of room. Since it wouldn't fit thru the door when finished, rather than remove the wings he took the wall apart between a set of windows. He built that garage himself out of cider blocks and when it went back together you see the difference in the joints for the next 70 years until the building was torn down. He powered it with a little Lawrence engine that is now in the Glenn Curtiss museum. Oh, the plane ended up being burned down after a couple years by one of the mechanics trying to refuel it while smoking.

11-10-2021, 12:39 PM	#24
Jim Brierley Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Temecula, CA Posts: 4,089	Re: Demise of the Ford Tri-Motor In 1928 my Dad worked for Bach Aircraft in Santa Monica, CA. Bach made a tri-motor that Dad claimed was far superior to the Ford. It had more power for one thing. Bach came to an end when a mechanic laid a hot soldering iron on the fabric-covered wing while working on a wing tip light. The plane was quickly on fire, soon the hole area was on fire, 55 gallon drums of av-gas were exploding, some went up into the air. No more Bach Aircraft! Dad told stories about him throwing black carbon out of a plane while a movie was being made, to simulate a burning plane. Dad was born in 1907, in England. Just think of all the things he witnessed in his 85 years on this earth! Aircraft was in its infancy, as were cars. He was around long enough to fly in jumbo jets and drive turbo-charged diesels. He drove trucks for many years, and would tell us about trucks being able to haul tons of material at the astounding speed of 15 MPH and do that for hours on end! Of course we thought that was funny, he'd look us right in the eyes and say "a horse can't do that".

11-13-2021, 11:02 AM	#27
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 16,436	Re: Demise of the Ford Tri-Motor When Henry Ford got involved with the Stout Metal Airplane Co, he was interested in manufacturing a small airplane that could be sold cheaply to the masses like the Model T Ford. William Stout wanted nothing to do with that since he was more interested in building larger aircraft. Henry had the Ford Flivver built anyway and it went though various testing and demonstration flights to garner public interest. The machine was a low wing monoplane and short in fuselage length. Henry wanted it small so as to fit in a large garage. The thing had stability issues but would fly. Charles Lindberg flew the thing to see how it handled and he was not impressed. He said it was one of the worst designs he had ever flown. Considering how the Spirit of Saint Louis flew then that is a pretty bad opinion of the design. The Ryan NYP was a handful so his opinion of the Flivver was not a good one. Eventually, Ford's test pilot, Harry Brooks, made the mistake of putting tooth picks in the fuel tank cap to keep moisture from getting in there but forgot to remove them. He was killed in the crash after the engine quit from fuel starvation so that put a stop to the Flivver. Bill Stout designed the Sky Car which likely was a usable design after several design changes but Ford didn't produce it. Stout went on to develop it on his own after he left Ford Motor Co. Later in 1936, Ford built a prototype of a V8 powered Model 15-P aircraft that was basically a tail-less wing design and it barely got off the ground before it crashed. That was pretty much as far as Ford went in aviation till the bomber plant was built.