The "Tin Goose" a 1928 Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-B visits York, Pa

Liberty Aviation Museum’s 1928 Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-B visited York, PA from September 16th through the 18th 2023 to do a series of flights put on by Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). This group of flights was hosted by EAA Chapter 1041 out of Gettysburg, PA - The Gettysburg Barnstormers! We were able to get a close up look at the Tin Goose, as it was affectionately called, while it was being prepared to take a crew of volunteers who helped out with the weekend on a ferry move to the next location near Altoona, PA.

Check out this video of the plane starting up all 3 motors!

Seeing and hearing the iconic plane fly over the hobby shop all weekend got us digging into the history of this plane a little deeper. Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) / Maddaux Air Lines planes were first featured in the 1929 Pennsylvania Railroad calendar promoting the Air-Rail service, and also again in 1931 promoting the 48 hour cross country service. These famous works of art by Griff Teller can be found in the book "The Crossroads of Commerce" by Dan Cupper, which we occasionally have a copy available for sale at the shop.

A page from the Crossroads of Commerce showing the 1931 Giant Conquerors of Space and Time painting by Griff Teller.

A Tri-Motor is featured on the cover of the Volume 36, Number 2 issue of the Summer 2003 Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society's quarterly publication The Keystone. The painting was titled Teamwork by Bob Eckel.

Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart (early aviation pioneers) were both instrumental in the birth of the commercial air network in the United States. The Pennsylvania Railroad used them both as consultants and spokespersons for their partnership with Transcontinental Air Transport in a joint Air-Rail service venture. The complete route, which started in New York City and traveled to Los Angeles, was done in four basic sections. The first leg was completed via a Pennsylvania Railroad overnight train called The Airway Limited from NY to Columbus, OH. The second leg was on a TAT flight from Port Columbus, OH to Waynoka, OK where the passenger would get back on a Santa Fe overnight train to Clovis, NM to finish up the 3rd leg. The journey ended with another TAT flight to Los Angeles and surrounding areas. The irony of the partnership between air and rail is that it ultimately led to the creation of the commercial air system in the US. The airlines later, in combination to the Interstate Highway system, were the demise of the coast to coast passenger rail system as more travelers found flying or driving their own vehicles more convenient than train travel.

The City of Columbus was renamed the City of New York during its exhibition at New York City's Penn Station. (TWA Photo)

The Airway Limited train would have picked up a 12-1 Pullman sleeper car originating in Washington DC from a connecting train in Harrisburg, PA that would have stopped in York, PA on the PRR's Northern Central line. 

Lets get back to the plane now. The interior of the Ford was almost a copy of a coach car from the railroad featuring adjustable seats, large windows with curtains and electric cabin lights over each seat. 

The cockpit of the plane shows the classic styling of the late 1920's.

We showed some of the crew Chuck Blardone's article in The Keystone and the images from the Crossroads of Commerce before they did their pre-flight inspections. We stuck around to watch the plane take off on it's ferry move to the Altoona area where it will be doing more trips. If you are interested in taking a trip on the aircraft check out the schedule of trips by visiting: https://www.eaa.org/flights/flytheford.aspx

In 1939 TAT/Maddux merged with Western Air Express to form Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc., or TWA as many became to know it. TWA continued as a commercial airline until 2001 when it was acquired by American Airlines.

Bibliography:

Crossroads of Commerce, by Dan Cupper; Photography by Ken Murry. Great Eastern Publishing. 1992

The Keystone, Summer 2003 Vol. 36 No.2 p11-75