Ford Trimotor

History of Ford Trikes

In aviation history, "three-engine" aircraft have been popular among flight enthusiasts, casual observers and passengers. Several major contributions to this class of aircraft were made in the 1920s and 1930s, including the Fokkers F.VII and Junkers Ju 52.

The American Ford Motor Company joined the Stout Metal Airplane Company in 1925 through the acquisition, which was known simply as the "Ford Trimotor" and covered several variants covering both military and civilian use.

The Ford Trimotor originated in the work of William Stout and Hugo Junkers and was created in the early 1920s by a team financially managed by Henry Ford himself. From this period came the Stout "3-AT", which first flew in 1926 and consisted of a three-engine (Curtis-Wright engine) prototype. The design evolved gradually, relying on corrugated iron (using aluminium alloys) developed by German engineer Hugo Junkers in his various WWI and post-war designs.

The Ford product entered series production in 1926, eventually producing 199 prototypes for many aircraft carriers as well as the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), United States Navy (USN) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Several legal failures by Ford have prevented the Trimotor from being sold in Europe.

The 7-AT-A is the 6-AT-A with a 420 hp PW Wasp radial mounted on the nose. The 8-AT was a one-off model based on the 5-AT-C, with only one engine (in the nose), and was mainly used for cargo transportation. The 9-AT is a 4-AT-B with 3 x PW Wasp Radials, 300hp each. The 11-AT is a 4-AT-E with 3 Packard DR-980 diesels each making 225 hp. The 13-A was a 5-AT-D hybrid engine consisting of 1 x 575hp Wright Cyclone Radial in the nose and 2 x 300hp Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind engines in the wings.

Powered by 3 Hispano-Suiza 18 Sbr engines with 1,000 hp each, the 14-A is larger and can carry up to 40 passengers.

Civilian operators include Colombia, Canada, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, United States and Venezuela.

Different models were converted into military form and used under different names. The C-3A is a transport aircraft based on the 4-AT-E and the C-4 is the 4-AT-B. The 5-AT-D formed the C-4A, and the modified version became the C-4B.

The USN/USMC refers to the three motors as "JR", including the JR-2 and JR-3 and various "RR" forms.

Military operators include Australia, Canada, Colombia, Spain, United Kingdom and United States.

Only 18 Ford Trimotors are known today (2017), some of which are seaworthy and others have landed as protected museum displays.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes