I've never taken a ride. To me, it was too expensive. But, you'll never hear me complain about it. It sounds so cool just listening to it takeoff and watching it lumber off into the sky. I know there's people in there looking out at the crowd saying "they don't know what they're missing".
My oldest son took a ride in it when it traveled through MI 2 yrs ago. He liked the whole experience. I don't have much interest in "riding" but given a chance to fly it, I'd be all over it.
Having flown, restored and maintained antique airplanes and warbirds, $70 for the Trimotor is a ver reasonable price. It would beat the socks off a 172 flight any day.
My dad owned the Stinson Trimotor N11153 (now owned by Greg Herrick) when I was a kid and I flew in it a great deal. I'd pay $70 for a Ford Trimotor ride.
For comparison, look what a ride in a B-17, B-29 or P-51 will cost you. The Trimotor is far cheaper...and much more rare.
Jim Rice
Wolf River Airport (54M)
Collierville, TN
N4WJ 1994 Van's RV-4 (Flying)
N3368K 1946 Globe GC-1B Swift (Flying)--For Sale
N7155H 1946 Piper J-3C Cub (Flying)
Two rides so far, first solo then with my two older children. I'd do it again in a heartbeat with all five of us. A 172 will never give you the experience the Ford does!
Thanks to all the EAA volunteers that keep the old birds flying!
Jim
EAA 276294 Lifetime
Vintage 722607
1957 Piper PA-22/20 "Super Pacer"
Chapter 32 member www.eaa32.org
www.mykitlog.com/LinerDrivr
Fly Baby/Hevle Classic Tandem
It sounds pretty cool flight. This can be broken down though to two perspectives. Those that see this as a piece of history and want to pay the dollare to experience it no matter how long the flight is. The second would be those that want to expereince it for the flight, in an older plane but this isn't at the top of their priority list.
I fall into the second. I will probably head up there to see it fly and grab some photos of it. Who knows maybe I will be hooked once I'm there but I still wish the flight was longer or EAA would give you the option for a longer flight.
It would be nice to consider other options. If there are two planes keep one at the 15 min flights and have the other plane do morning flights that are 30 min to an hour. If as stated above is true that this audiance would be smaller then maybe just offer 2-3 longer flights.
I'm sure there is a piece of the market being missed by the high price for short flight method. I can tell you that of those that responded to me about turning this into a family event I have a total of 4 no's. Not at that price for that short of time.
Please also don't get me wrong. I'm glad the volunteers/EAA do this and put this together to keep the plane flying.
The last post is a good idea. I would like a little longer flight, say 25-30 min and would be willing to pay a little more for it, but not double.
I'd like to have the flight circle the airport grounds as well as fly over the town.
By the way, make sure you and Your Kids have ear plugs or you may damage your hearing as it is about the noiseiest plane I have ever been in.
We ride on the Tri Motor almost every year, if the line is not too long.
I particularly like that the Tri Motor comes right up to the flight line an Oshkosh like the B-17 used to. I am not likely to go all the way to Appleton to get a ride, and going over to Pioneer to wait on the helicopter rides is less convenient also.
One thing one of the TRI motors needs desperately is a prop balance. When we rode in it last year it shook so badly that it was frightening. I think this was the other one, not EAAs. I tried to tell the pilot about it , but he wasn't interested in hearing anything, said some nonsense like ''all these old planes shake" which is not true. I have flown one at Lakeland, and ridden in perhaps 4 or 5 times and never felt it that bad.
A prop balance is only about $200 and saves wear on the whole plane, all the metal parts as well as the instruments,and it should be done before Airventure.
Last edited by Bill Greenwood; 04-18-2013 at 01:19 PM.
Been there, flew that. I'd do again and again. Flying in a piece of history is worth paying for. When I take my young son up in the Tri Motor, I'm paying for a wonderful memory for him, not thinking about my billfold.
I'm guessing Brian wasn't around when they were charging $500 for a one-hour flight in the Concorde....
Most of the bombers are $400-500 for a 20 minute ride. A mustang or P-40 is $700-800 for the same. I spent $1000 an hour to fly a mustang in 1991 and my friend's thought I was nuts. That was the best $3000 I ever spent. If you have a passion for old airplanes and know how much it costs to keep them in the air most of these ride programs are very reasonable. Don
I didn't know about this but at least it was for an hour.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote