Restore the Tri-Motor

PORT CLINTON — Efforts to restore a vintage Ford Tri-Motor are closer to taking off thanks to a grant from the Mylander Foundation. The foundation, a legacy of the Sandusky philanthropist George Mylander, has given almost $18,000 to the Tri-Motor Heritage Foundation of Port Clinton, which has been working since 2004 to restore a plane manufactured in Dearborn, Michigan, in 1929. The plane has been taking shape in a hangar at the Liberty Aviation Museum near the Erie-Ottawa International Airport. Jody Brausch, president of the Tri-Motor Heritage Foundation, said the money will be used for electronic equipment for the plane, including a navigation system, moving map and GPS, communications equipment and a transponder that shows air traffic control systems where an airplane is located. While the group wants to restore the plane in an authentic manner, the Tri-Motor will be equipped with modern electronics both for safety reasons and to meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements, Brausch said. The plane has had several owners, including Pan Am in the 1930s and a local company, Island Airways, from 1946 to 1952. In 1953, the plane was badly damaged. The Tri-Motor is famed in aviation history as one of the first planes used by airlines in America. Liberty Aviation Museum's collection of aircraft includes a historic Tri-Motor that's still flying, the "City of Port Clinton." The plane originally was named the "City of Wichita" and was part of Transcontinental Air Transport, the airline that began operations in 1929 and eventually evolved into TWA. Brausch said the restoration effort is coming along. The right wing of the airplane is done, and the left wing is about 85% done. The group hopes to have the plane on wheels by next spring. "It will look like an airplane," Brausch said. The group hopes the plane will be ready to fly by summer 2023, Brausch said. Information on making a tax-deductible donation to aid the project is available at restoretheford.org. The group has raised about $1.8 million and needs about another $300,000. George Mylander, who died in 2016 and was a former Sandusky mayor and a principal for local schools, also was a noted philanthropist. In the late 1990s, for example, he gave the city $1 million to build a waterfront plaza downtown. Mylander also apparently was interested in aviation. Brausch said he met Mylander when he came to a local event. "He came by to hop a ride on a Ford Tri-Motor," Brausch said.