No, not Richmond, California or Richmond, Virginia. The plane! The plane!
I can’t believe this beautiful piece of aviation history is still for sale! $2700/offers? Hell, I’m tempted to buy it myself to donate to the McClellan Aviation Museum here in Sacramento. Instead, I think I’ll try to get the McClellan folks together with the seller. This beautifully restored airplane needs a home where folks will appreciate it!
Regular contributer Dave gave me the heads up on this. Here are some of the particulars:
It’s a 1929 Ford 4-AT-E Tri-Motor restored to an extraordinarily high standard. In 1929 it was delivered as a new passenger plane to Mamer Flying Service in Spokane, Washington. It was later sold to K-T Flying Service of Honolulu and was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Brought back to the mainland in 1946 by a private owner, it was leased by TWA for their 1949 20th anniversary celebration. It then went to an agricultural operator in Idaho and was modified as a sprayer and also as one of the pioneer forest fire fighting air tankers. Johnson Flying Service in Montana flew it for several years to drop Smoke Jumpers and supplies to fire fighters.
Since 1969 the plane has been privately owned and hangar stored by Dolph Overton and was part of his Wings and Wheels museum collection. It is currently owned by the Overton Family Trust, which was created by Mr. Overton to fund the plane’s restoration and facilitate its sale.
In November, 2005 the Tri-Motor was flown from Goldsboro, NC to Richmond, VA where (until recently) it was on public display at the Virginia Aviation Museum. It has also graced the cover of the March, 2006 issue of Trade-A-Plane. Currently hangared at Petersburg-Dinwiddie Airport in central Virginia, it is available for viewing and inspection by appointment only.
Here’s the link for all the details, more photos and to contact the seller direct. It’s a beautiful piece of aviation history. I’d love to see it find a new home.
Doug