‘Tin Goose’ to take to the skies

<p class="p1">This Ford Tri-motor aircraft will be available for viewing and rides 2-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday at the Beauregard Parish Airport.</p><a href="mailto:news@americanpress.com"> Special to American Press </a>

<p class="p1">Aviation enthusiasts will be able to step back in time this week as a Ford Tri-motor aircraft makes a stop Thursday at the Beauregard Parish Airport located at 1220 1st Avenue in DeRidder.  

<p class="p3">The aircraft will be available for viewing and rides in DeRidder from Thursday through Sunday from 2 – 5 p.m. each day. Tickets will be available for purchase at the airport for $75 per adult and $50 for each child who wishes to ride what is considered the nation’s very first luxury airliner.

<p class="p3">The aircraft is made available to the public by the Experimental Aircraft Association, and tour manager Olivia Rasmus said that each tour its hosted by EAA volunteers who are passionate about sharing the Tri-Motor’s place in history books.

<p class="p3">The DeRidder event, she said, will be hosted by EAA’s Chapter 1356 volunteers.

<p class="p3">Rasmus said that the majority of the proceeds from ticket sales will be used to keep the Tri-Motor operational, while also continuing the non-profit organization’s mission to promote aviation interests.

<p class="p3">“We are all very exciting to have the opportunity to share this piece of history with DeRidder and other communities, and we hope to be able to share our love of aviation with others through this unique experience,” Rasmus stated.

<p class="p3">Henry Ford built 199 Tri-Motors — nicknamed the “Tin Goose” — between 1926 and 1933 at the cusp of airline travel. Ford specified three engines to the aircraft in an effort to overcome engine reliability concerns and then added an enclosed cabin for passenger comfort.

<p class="p3">Rasmus said that the EAA’s model that will be at the Beauregard Parish airport, model 4-AT-E, was number 146 off of Ford’s assembly line and first flew on August 21, 1929. 

<p class="p3">It still replicates the paint scheme of Eastern Air Transport, who owned the aircraft before becoming Eastern Airlines.

<p class="p3">She said that the EAA acquired the aircraft in 1973, and that staff members and volunteers spent an “arduous” twelve years to restore it. It officially debuted in 1985 at the EAA airshow convention in Oshkosh, Wis., and then remained in the EAA Aviation Museum until 1991. 

<p class="p3">It now joins one other Tri-Motor owned by the EAA as it performs nationwide tours each year.

<p class="p3">More information on the Tri-Motor and its DeRidder stop can be found at <strong>www.flytheford.com</strong>.

SportsPlus

Local News

Firefighter training to be offered to high school junior, seniors

Local News

LCPD complaints delay vote to reappoint police chief

Local News

Kelly Campbell curates a classroom for students where they feel welcomed

McNeese Sports

Cowgirls suffer double loss

life

SW La. nightlife calendar: There’s always something to do

Local News

Trump announces commission on religious liberty, White House Faith Office

McNeese Sports

Traveling man

Local News

Jennings High Key Club using grant to increase access to books

Local News

Program aimed at helping city workers buy homes

Local News

Several area schools named after Black education pioneers, local legends

Crime

LC man accused of going on crime spree

McNeese Sports

Back to their roots

Jim Beam

Jim Beam column:Second Harvest news unsettling

Local News

Meet the candidates: Five throw hat in ring for mayor’s race

McNeese Sports

SLC games set for McNeese

McNeese Sports

Cowgirls look for four-peat

Local News

UPDATE: Drug charges against veterinarian cleared of rape dropped

Local News

Cassidy, Senate committee advances Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nomination to be health secretary

Business

Waffle House adds surcharge to eggs as massive bird flu outbreak leads to soaring prices

Local News

Federal judge blocks enforcement of La. police ‘buffer-zone’ law

Local News

Louisiana Armed Forces Alliance opens new offices

Local News

NY shields abortion pill prescribers after doctor indicted in La.

McNeese Sports

Cowboys win by a tick

Business

Wall Street swerves lower after Trump announces tariffs and then puts some on hold