Vintage plane returning to Liberty Aviation Museum

PORT CLINTON — The Liberty Aviation Museum's vintage Ford Tri-Motor aircraft is coming home. Known as The City of Port Clinton, which dates from 1928, the historic airplane has been largely absent for nine years. It was leased to a group that flew it around the country, offering rides on the plane. But the plane is now returning to the local museum, located at 3515 E. State Road next to Erie-Ottawa International Airport. It's available to people who want to purchase rides or simply view the historic aircraft as part of the museum's airplane collection. "We're really excited to have it again," said James Priebe, the museum's communications and marketing coordinator. "Almost a homecoming." Over the next few months, the museum plans to offer plenty of opportunities for people who want to buy rides on it. The museum is selling tickets for the inaugural flight, which will be at 10 a.m. next Friday, May 24 if the weather allows. Sightseers will be flown over much of the area, and there will be extras like a champagne toast. Tickets for the May 24 flight and subsequent flights will be available soon at libertyaviationmuseum.org or by calling 419-732-0234. History lesson The City of Port Clinton isn't just a vintage aircraft. It also was a part of aviation history in the U.S. Originally named the City of Wichita, it was part of a small fleet of Ford Tri-Motors owned by Transcontinental Air Transport. Beginning in 1929, the airline used a combination of air travel and night trains to rush passengers from New York to Los Angeles in a then-speedy 48 hours. Passengers going west would board a train in New York City, which took them to the Columbus airport where they would board a Ford Tri-Motor to fly to Oklahoma with a few stops in between. Another train trip and an additional airplane flight continued the journey. In those days, night travel aboard a plane wasn't safe, particularly in a flight over the mountains, so a train took care of taking passengers across the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The original Transcontinental Air Transport terminal in Columbus is still standing, and the Columbus airport plans to renovate the building. The Ford Tri-Motor, a three-engine transport, had one engine in the nose and one in each wing. From 1925 to 1933, 199 of the planes were made by Ford at a plant in the Detroit area. The plane was used by Island Airlines, which flew Tri-Motors from Port Clinton to the Bass islands and Kelleys Island from 1946 to 1985. Visitors to Liberty Aviation Museum also can watch the progress as volunteers work to rebuild another Ford Tri-Motor. A volunteer group, the Ford Tri-Motor Foundation, has been working for years to restore a plane heavily damaged in a crash. Completion of the project is getting close, said Jody Brausch, a Huron resident and the president of the foundation. Engines rebuilt by a company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, have been mounted on the aircraft, new propellers are on the way, and work is being done on the aircraft's electrical system and electronics, Brausch said. The group hopes to have a working aircraft later this year, he said. "Most of the components are done and ready for assembly," Brausch said. Information on the restoration project is available at restoretheford.org.