Tri-Motor

My good old friend Jay Stiles came to visit with his family. So happy to have them. On Saturday we went to the Ford Tri-Motor event at Goodyear airport. Rob Mooi and his boys also joined us. What a blast! This plane was build in 1928, 90 years ago! I got to co-pilot the beast and take the controls. It’s heavy, with neutral stability, so I had to dig deep into my piloting skills to fly it well and keep it coordinated. Fun time!

The first build picture shows a rivet line on the bottom for the rear fuselage skin. It was a safe line of rivets to do at this point. They turned out nice.

The Idler, second build picture, was a fun assembly and a bit challenging. The thickness of the part made it impossible to hold together with clecos. So drilling the holes precisely was trouble. And I had to go out and buy a 7/16” drill bit to make a hole for the bearings. It’s a nice moving part… Not sure what it idles.

Then I clecoed a box. It goes on the top-front of the rear fuselage and I’m not sure yet what the hinge is for. Oh the suspense!

My parts bin is empty. This rear fuselage is calling for all the little parts I had been preparing for over a month. They go here and there, front and back… it’s quite the puzzle. The plans only give subtle hints as to how the pieces fit together. I hope I interpret them correctly.