Aircraft

The Ford Motor Company became involved in aircraft in the early days of aviation. The Ford trimotor is still well know by many, but then it was often call "The tin Goose".

The exhibit has a variety of aircraft that include the 'tin Goose' that was the first to reach and fly over the South Pole.

Some of the Ford family were involved in exploration trips to the Artic. The plane used by Admiral Bryd is on exhibit.

You can see that Fokker in Amsterdam based one of their designs on the Ford Trimotor and they have one of those units on display.

The AutoGyro airplane model was expected to take over from some of the winged aircraft. The helicopter was being developed but was not successful by the late 40's.

He is an AutoGyro that was used by the Detroit Free Press to allow slow hovering speed, while covering an event on the ground.

Because the necessary power to weight had not been achieved, and the material to make a light enough helicopter had yet to be developed, the AutoGyro looked like a good choice.

I had read where Sikorsky had donated his first successful helicopter to Henry Ford's exhibit and here is the evidence. They have a display that lets you watch Sikorsky fly the unit on the grounds in front of the museum.


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