Flying The Ford Trimotor

By Nels Anderson (25 June 2006)

One of the prominent features of FS2004 was a collection of historic aircraft (remember that "A Century Of Flight" part of the title?). All too many flightsimmers seem to have overlooked these in preference to their favorite airliners but still these planes did add a nice flavor to the version of the sim that arrived at aviation's 100th anniversary.

One of the included planes was modeled after a real plane that still flys regularly, the Ford Trimotor that is owned and operated by the EAA. Their Fly The Ford program lets anyone get a ride in this historic aircraft and feel what air travel was like at the dawn of the air age. In a previous feature article Andrew Herd presented the history of this aircraft type in detail, so I'll refer you to that article instead of repeating it here.

I don't recall the Trimotor making a tour to the U.S. east coast before, but when I heard it was coming my way I figured I had to get a ride on it. It was scheduled to visit a nearby airport, but the weather forecast for that period was pretty grim so my friend Bill and I decided to take advantage of a day with guaranteed good weather and fly to Poughkeepsie, New York and take a ride there. This way also had the advantage of giving us an excuse to do some flying on our own too!

The trusty Piper Archer got us to KPOU in about an hour and even before landing we spotted the old Ford parked on the ramp. As soon as I got out of the Archer I started snapping photos. Our first look was across the ramp but we quickly walked over for a closer view. There were some other interesting planes around, as is often case, such as the biplane seen departing under the wing of the Trimotor in the right photo.

Even though we had not pre-registered we only had to wait for one flight before getting our turn. Before boarding we got a briefing and had a chance to ask questions. Then it was into the plane. Other than being at a bit of an odd angle, getting in is quite easy as the interior is pretty roomy. The original wicker seats have been replaced by something more modern, including modern seat belts. The first two photos below show the view from my seat front and back. Note that the passengers have their own altimeter (kind of like how Concorde had a Mach meter); you can see it in the left photo directly behind the pilot.

With everyone settled in, the engines were started (photo right) and it was time to go.

Unlike the FS2004 version which is a struggle to taxi smoothly, the real plane apparently handles nicely on the ground (left). We had only a short taxi to the runway and soon were off. The Trimotor, though slow, takes very little runway to get airborne!

After gaining some altitude we began banking right over the tee hangars and towards the city of Poughkeepsie. The airport is only a few miles east of the Hudson River, and the city is right on the river. In the right photo we see our first view of the river off in the distance. Note also the engine gauges on the pylon...the pilot certainly needs a wide scan to view everything!

Initially we cruised (at a blazing 85 mph or so) north up the Hudson, where we could see some ship traffic. Over a golf course I spotted our shadow off to the right. After I got home I did the same flight with FS2004 and the first screen shot from that flight is show below right, as I flew over the city.

We had been warned during the briefing that the plane was loud. During the taxi, one of the other passengers commented that it wasn't so bad. Well, that's before the engines were running at full power! During cruise, they generated a sound you could not only hear, but feel. The FS2004 Trimotor sounds actually match this pretty well, if the volume is turned up enough. A good subwoofer helps with the feel, though I imagine something like a Buttkicker Gamer would do an even better job.

Poughkeepsie does have one noteable man-made landmark, which being a bit of a railfan as well as a pilot I was interested to see. The Poughkeepsie Highland Railroad Bridge opened in 1888 and at the time was the longest span in the world. Unfortunately, in 1974 a fire damaged the bridge and it's been closed to rail traffic since. A group called Walkway Over The Hudson has hopes of reopening it as a walking path, though even that level of restoration will be a very expensive project. The first two photos below show the bridge. Unfortunately, Microsoft's default scenery hardly does it justice.

After a turn over the city we headed back to the airport. I noted from flying the FS2004 version that turns are quick sluggish so any heading changes require some planning ahead. Our pilot did not seem to have any problems though.

Returning from our tour of the city we were setup for a right base to runway 24, which at 5001 feet long offers plenty of space for the Trimotor. I tried the same approach flying the FS2004 version and with its sluggish handling found getting lined up a challenge--guess I need more practice!

Using only a fraction of the runway to land, we turned off short and quickly taxied back to the ramp. Out the window (left photo) our Archer was seen waiting to take us back home. Our pilot smoothly taxied in, swung the plane around 180° and shut down, with the door facing the terminal.

After engine shutdown, we got a chance to see the cockpit up close. Comparing the real plane's "2D cockpit" with Microsoft's version clearly shows this particular cockpit was not really modeled, as the gauges are quite different. The panel in the real plane has been updated from what was found in 1929, since it does need to be flown in the modern world, but the sim panel seems to have been updated even more.

Our pilot never closed his side window, doing the flight with one elbow sticking in the breeze. What a way to fly!

Here, the real cockpit and Microsoft's virtual cockpit are compared. Clearly these are the same aircraft type, but with different gauge arrangements. But that "yoke"...looks out of place in an aircraft, but would be just right in a Ford automobile.

After exiting the plane we got a brief chance to go on the ramp and photograph the plane from all sides. The exterior does match the Microsoft version (right) quite nicely. That corrugated metal surface is really something else! Note that there are no flaps and also that the lines for the control surfaces are all right out in the open.

Finally, it was time to leave, so back into the Archer we went. In the meantime, the next set of passengers had headed off in the Trimotor. As we waited our turn to take off, the Trimotor came in for a landing, providing a chance to get a few final photos.

Just for comparison, the final photo shows some examples of what else Ford was manufacturing in 1929.

Nels Anderson