{"id":905,"date":"2017-01-09T16:43:57","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T16:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/?p=905"},"modified":"2017-01-10T13:17:06","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T13:17:06","slug":"blast-from-the-past-the-roaring-20s-land-at-jaxex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/blast-from-the-past-the-roaring-20s-land-at-jaxex\/","title":{"rendered":"Blast from the Past: The Roaring 20\u2019s Land at JaxEx"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Justin Fletcher
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Jacksonville\u2019s local Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 193 recently hosted a vintage 1929 Ford Tri-Motor (NC8407) at Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (JAXEX). The Ford Tri-Motor, often known as the \u201cTin Goose\u201d became very popular with airline operators and passengers due to its three powerful radial engines and rugged aluminum construction. Henry Ford claimed the all-aluminum structure made it \u201cthe safest airliner around.\u201d This reputation lead to the Tri-Motor being the first mass-produced airliner in history.<\/p>\n

Tri-Motor NC8407 first flew passengers and airmail in 1929 with Eastern Air Transport. In 1930, the airplane was sold to Intercontinental Aviation and played a role in Cuba\u2019s inaugural airmail and passenger service. By the late 1940\u2019s the plane was sold to the Dominican Republic and may have served the role of \u201cAir Force 1,\u201d for the Dominican President. During the 1950\u2019s NC8407 was back in the United States as a barnstormer and crop duster until 1955 when the Aircraft Service Company of Boise, Idaho purchased the aircraft as a \u201cfire-bomber\u201d.<\/p>\n

Over the next several years the airframe would be highly modified to accommodate smoke jumpers and two 275 gallon fire retardant tanks. During the 1960\u2019s ownership of the airplane changed and eventually the airplane would make an appearance in the Jerry Lewis movie \u201cThe Family Jewels.\u201d During the 1970\u2019s, NC8047 sustained major damage during a thunderstorm when the airplane was torn from its tie downs in Burlington, Wisconsin. After the incident, the Experimental Aircraft Association purchased NC8047 and began an arduous restoration process to return the Tri-Motor to airworthy condition. After 12 years, NC8047 once again returned to the skies in the condition you see today.<\/p>\n

Today, the EAA tours the Ford Tri-Motor all over the country encouraging interest in aviation. Passengers from 6 months to 90 years old have experienced the thrill of a vintage airplane ride. For $75 you have the opportunity to fly in a living piece of American aviation history.<\/p>\n

Noisy, but reliable, the Ford Tri-Motor and its three radial engines pioneered the commercial air travel we enjoy today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"dsc_0217\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Justin Fletcher Jacksonville\u2019s local Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 193 recently hosted a vintage 1929 Ford Tri-Motor (NC8407) at Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (JAXEX). The Ford Tri-Motor, often known as the \u201cTin Goose\u201d became very popular with airline operators and passengers due to its three powerful radial engines and rugged aluminum construction. Henry…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":910,"href":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions\/910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/flyjacksonville.com\/jetstream\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}