History

The Ford 5-AT Trimotor appeared in 1925 and set the trend for future airliner development. Like Ford motor cars, it was rugged and reliable (for the time) and many remained flying into the 1960s, with one still remaining airworthy.

The Ford Trimotor was designed by William Stout. In 1925 Henry Ford bought his company and started developing the Trimotor which began production in 1926.

Although the all-metal construction was not revolutionary it was very advanced for the time and the rugged dependability allowed airlines to offer greater reliability than previously.

Between 1926 and 1933 Ford produced 199 Trimotors but they were soon outclassed by designs like the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2.

They continued to fly with second level airlines and went on to fly with well over 100 airlines around the world.

Several also flew in military services, including the RAAF.

This model represents a Ford 5-AT flying with Northwest Airways in the late 1920s.

Airfix 1/72 kit with DrawDecal kit decals completed by Leigh Edmonds in July 2009.

Data

MODEL: Ford 5-AT (Northwest Airways, NC8419, late 1920s)

ROLE: Short range airliner

TIME PERIOD: 1926-1939

ENGINES: three Pratt & Whitney Wasp C radial engines of 313kW each

WING SPAN: 23.72m

LENGTH: 15.32m

MAXIMUM TAKE OFF WEIGHT: 6,120kg

CRUISING SPEED: 145km/h

PAYLOAD: 8 passengers

CREW: 2

SCALE: 1/72

KIT:

GALLERIES: , ,

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