PORT CLINTON — The Ford Trimotor looks more like a cross between an RV, submarine, and Wright brothers’ contraption than it does a modern airplane.
Despite its old facade, the aircraft will soon begin taking up passengers at the Liberty Aviation Museum in Port Clinton. The plane has already been crisscrossing the area, with recent flights in Akron and Pontiac, Mich. Visitors in Port Clinton will be able to go up, 10 at a time, in the plane on Aug. 24, and then again Sept. 6-8.
Dave Ross, one of the pilots who flies the Trimotor, explained that while some passengers might be a little nervous as they board, they generally leave thrilled.
“I haven’t had anybody that wasn’t happy after the ride, and I assume it’s always because they enjoyed it and not because they’re relieved to be off it,” he quipped. “I’ve had flights where people have proposed to each other. We get adults who say ‘This is my first airplane ride ever,’ and we get little kids.”
Flights out of the museum are nothing new. This weekend people can fly in attack helicopters, including a restored Vietnam “Huey.” This commitment to restoring and actually using their aircraft is why Liberty considers itself a “working museum.”
Liberty’s director of operations, Bob Fujita, explained that while the experience is a big part of what they offer, historical information about the planes and their uses are equally important.
“That’s part of the education process,” Mr. Fujita said. “If you’re a museum, you have a responsibility to educate. It’s one thing to entertain, but you have a responsibility to teach.”
While many of the museum’s aircraft, cars, and tanks have histories rooted in their use during international wars, the Trimotor’s story is both more peaceful and local to the region.
In 1929, Transcontinental Air Transport began flying the plane out of Columbus en route to California as part of a journey across the United States via train and plane. Later, Island Airways also used a Trimotor to take passengers from Port Clinton to the Lake Erie Islands. The museum flights will try to replicate some of that experience.
“As a museum, we can’t take people to another island and let them get off. Then we’re an airline, so we’re not allowed to do that,” the museum’s communications director, Jim Triebe, said. “We have to come back here. But what we usually do, since we’re so close to the Lake Erie Shoreline, is we go over the islands, particularly this aircraft, because that’s what the school bus version of this plane did. It went and dropped kids off and picked them up at the islands.”
Moving out of the hangar and into the more typical museum exhibit, there are several display cases of old steward outfits, steering wheels, and information about famous pilots, including Harold Hauck, who flew 14,000 hours on the plane without ever leaving a 10-mile radius around Port Clinton between 1950 and 1982.
With its combination of experiential flights, historical information, and large collection of vehicles and aircraft, the museum caters to all ages. Veterans, families, and other visitors in the area looking for an activity all flock to check out Liberty’s offerings.
“I really like wars, history, and stuff like that, and I thought an aviation museum would probably have a bunch of cool stuff on World War II and stuff,” said Will Snyder, an 11-year-old from Huron County who came to the museum to celebrate his birthday.
Tickets for the Trimotor flight cost $99 for adults and $75 for children ages 17 and under.
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