WWII veteran, 98, flies in a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor plane (TR)

UK Daily Mail ^ | 05/18/2019 | Keith Griffith

[DFG]

A World War Two veteran who captained a B-17 Flying Fortress has returned to the skies in a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor, the same plane he first flew in at the age of 17.

Russel Duane Hilding, 98, was overjoyed at the chance to fly in one of the ultra-rare vintage aircraft on Thursday at Gerald R. Ford International Airport near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

'My first airplane ride was in a Ford Tri-Motor,' Hilding told WXMI-TV. 'The best part of getting old, is trying to not stay old.'

Only 18 Trimotors remain in existence, of which only eight are certified airworthy by the FAA.

[DFG]

[Anti-Bubba182]

I got to ride in one whose owner sold rides at an air show 40 some years ago. Very noisy!

[Artcore]

So great this hero got to fly in this aircraft again!

God Bless The Greatest Generation!

[Ken522]

Each engine is an 18-cylinder contraption … that’s something …

[Afterguard]

Cool story. I’d love to fly in a Tri-motor. What a great experience for this brave old gent!

Now, can anyone tell me why all these interesting, inspiring stories only appear in foreign news papers?

Anyone?

[Big Red Badger]

1929 Ford TriMotor,
Cool Factor-10.

[Rennes Templar]

“Gerald R. Ford International Airport”

Seems like a lot of things are named after Gerald R. Ford.

Other than pardoning Nixon, what did Gerald R. Ford ever do?

[cyclotic]

I bought a ticket last night to fly there for a family function next month.

Outside of AMWAY, Leslie King is about the most famous person to come out of GR.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

...what did Gerald R. Ford ever do?

He was a great slapstick comedian.

[stockpirate]

He held the country together after Nixon left.

[redfreedom]

Maybe because there is no propaganda value, or that such a good story distracts from propaganda and informs the low info folks that there are some good things about America.

[heshtesh]

I flew on one back in the 70’s from Port Clinton Ohio to Put in Bay (Put out Bay) Ohio.

[heshtesh]

Each engine is an 18-cylinder contraption … that’s something …

They appear to be single row engines, much simpler looking than the multi row engines developed later.

[Fiji Hill]

Other than pardoning Nixon, what did Gerald R. Ford ever do?

Gerald Ford was, indeed, a great president.

• He appointed the great conservative Nelson Rockefeller to be his vice president

• He stood by and did nothing as the North Vietnamese overran South Vietnam

• To fight inflation, he urged everyone to wear a WIN (whip inflation now) button

• His wife Betty was constantly on the phone lobbying for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment

• He snubbed the great Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn so as not to disrupt our policy of detente with the Soviet Union.

• He liberated Poland by proclaiming it to be free of Soviet domination in a debate with Jimmy Carter

[Wilhelm Tell]

I got to ride in one when I was about 12 years old - my father took me to an airshow and he got me a ticket for a ride. The plane basically made a big circle around the airfield and landed. I remember the noie and the vibration! Well, many years later, just last year, I was at an airshow and got to ride in a Tri-Motor for a second time! That was fun!

[ExpatCanuck]

Those were indeed troubling times. Gerald Ford’s blandness was a blessing in disguise. :-)

[Dr. Sivana]

Outside of AMWAY, Leslie King is about the most famous person to come out of GR.

Well, Del Shannon (Charles Westover) came from nearby Coopersville.

[Romulus]

And he lost like a gentleman, in the republican tradition.

[Rennes Templar]

Great indeed.

[mabarker1]

Trimotor PING