The Year of the Tri-Motor

By John Dorcey

The count stands at seven so far and hey, who knows, there may be one or two more out there - anyone have a 727 available for a flight to Oshkosh? Greg Herrick provides four examples of classic tri-motor aircraft.

The Stinson SM-6000-B, or to serious history buffs, the Stinson "Model T" on display at AirVenture began working for Century Airlines in March 1931. The aircraft was sold to American Airlines in March 1932 and is the oldest example of an American Airlines aircraft.

Over its working life NC11153 has flown under the liveries of four airlines. The aircraft passed through a number of owners until bought by Herrick in 1996.

This aircraft, serial number 5021, was manufactured in 1931 and has suffered a few indignities in the 74 years since. Besides being used as a crop duster and as a horse hauler in the late 1940s the wings were 'metalized' adding 1600 pounds of aluminum.

The ground up restoration began in 1997 and from the outset the goal was to have the finished product be as authentic as possible. The tailwheel centering system is just one example of the exacting detail used. Researching original Stinson drawings revealed that a bracket was missing. The bracket was fabricated and installed as part of the restoration.

The windshield is another example - looking closely at Stinson files showed a special "American Airways" window drawing which confirmed that the existing windshield was correct. Finally, the paint scheme was studied. Planned to be used as a mail plane, the original finish was not the same quality as found on passenger aircraft.

John Underwood, aviation historian, provided photos of the original paint scheme of NC11153 which were followed with the same exacting methods. Today, after the painstakingly complete restoration the aircraft looks better than it did on its first day of airline service.

This specific aircraft flew in the 2003 National Air Tour.

FMI: www.nationalairtour.org