EAA Ford Trimotor Barnstorms Across the Midwest: Spirit of St. Louis Airport

By Carmelo Turdo

Experimental Aircraft Association's 1929 Ford Trimotor visited Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield this weekend during the iconic aircraft's spring tour across the Midwest. The EAA's Ford Trimotor has already made several stops on the current tour, including Iowa City, IA last weekend. The Aero Experience was on site all three days of the St. Louis appearance, with weather being a decisive factor on two of them - Friday's low ceilings delayed flights until midafternoon, and Sunday morning's flights were cancelled due to high winds. Ground tours of the aircraft were still provided while the Trimotor was on the apron. We will be featuring a sample of each day's activities below.

The Ford Trimotor was an outgrowth of the Stout Metal Airplane Company's 2-AT single-engine aircraft employed by the Ford Air Transport Service flying cargo between Dearborn and Chicago in 1925. Ford eventually acquired Stout and the new plant they built at (then) Ford Airport in Dearborn. The Trimotor design emerged with the Ford 3-AT prototype and then the 4-AT mature design in 1926. 199 4-AT variants were built between 1927 and 1933, providing the developing airline industry with a reliable, all-metal transport aircraft for the first time. The Trimotor quickly became obsolete as the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2/DC-3 series set the standard of air transport throughout the 1930s and the immediate post-World War II period.

This particular Ford 4-AT-E Trimotor was first delivered to Eastern Air Transport in 1929. In 1930, it was leased to Cubana Airlines and was later used by the government of the Dominican Republic. After returning to the U.S., it was used for barnstorming, crop dusting, aerial firefighting and transporting smoke jumpers. After returning to the airshow scene in the 1960s and 1970s, it was nearly destroyed in a storm at the EAA's 1973 Fly-In. Never defeated, the aircraft was again destined to serve as an aviation time machine after a 12-year restoration by the EAA Aviation Foundation, and it proudly represents the EAA Aviation Museum around the nation.

The EAA Ford Trimotor tour is made possible by the EAA chapter volunteers and airport hosts across the nation. This weekend's event was hosted by Signature Aviation and operated by pilot Taylor Oliver and the reservations team on site. EAA chapters 32 and 1675 provided ground safety personnel essential to the quick turnaround between flights.

On Friday, flight operations began in the afternoon after the ceiling lifted enough for VFR flights on a track just south of the airport. Here we joined our friend Mary Elliott from Elite Aviation, a flight training school based at Spirit of St. Louis Airport, as she prepared for her flight. Here we show the safety briefing, boarding, departure and recovery of her flight.

Saturday was an ideal day for Trimotor flying, and eleven flights launched that day. Here we show a flight returning, pilot Taylor Oliver refueling the Trimotor from atop the wing and another flight departing. A preview of the plane's interior is also included.

Sunday morning was our planned flight day, with @fly_with_alexis and The Aero Experience contributor Alexis Noel ready to produce our video taken from the co-pilot's right seat. We arrived early enough to make the first flight of the day, only to get a cancellation of flight operations due to strong winds over 25mph. We did get some photos outside of the aircraft and a short interview with pilot Taylor Oliver from the cockpit. 

The Aero Experience thanks the Experimental Aircraft Association, EAA Chapters 32 and 1675, Signature Aviation and everyone who contributed to the Trimotor's visit this weekend. Everyone on site was extremely helpful and accommodating to our media requests. Check out the EAA's 1929 Ford Trimotor webpage for future ride locations.