Up, Up and Away

Tri-motor N8419 today carries the markings of a military plane, but its last regular service was as a U.S. Forest Service smokejumper aircraft.

Next week son Lee and I are going to take a brief flight over the Kalamazoo area aboard an airliner designated N8419. 

So what?  In the recent past, N8419 has carried many passengers on short hops originating at Air Zoo, the aircraft museum that owns the reconstructed 1929 Ford Tri-Motor. 

Our adventure will be special for me because of a personal connection.  One of my golfing buddies for many years, Ron Stoleson, is the sole survivor of a tragic day in 1959 when the original N8419 crashed and burned at a wilderness airstrip in the Nez Perce National Forest in northern Idaho.  The crash killed two smokejumpers and the Forest Supervisor. They died soon after rescuers pulled them from the aircraft. The pilot was badly burned, but lived for several years before he died.

My friend Stoleson escaped through the open door of the rear compartment.  Lady luck was with him that day.  A future post will explain just how lucky he was.

The original N8419 over 30 years flew a number of different missions before becoming one of several aircraft owned by the Johnson Flying Service of Missoula, Montana.  During fire seasons, Johnson contracted with the U.S. Forest Service to fly the plane for smokejumpers.  In that role, it carried cargo to remote forest locations as well as dropping parachutists on fires.

N8419 was thought to be reduced to scrap after the 1959 crash.  A Kalamazoo company bought the remains and those of two other Tri-Motors to be used for parts in restoring another Tri-Motor, which flew from Port Clinton, Ohio. However, when that restoration was completed the firm decided enough remained of N8419 to justify bringing it back to life.

The restored Tri-Motor made its first flight at Air Zoo on July 24, 1991. Over the next 10 years it carried tens of thousands of passengers on short trips over the Kalamazoo area.  However, in 2001 the plane was grounded when corrosion problems were identified in its wing spars. 

My son and I saw N8419 in the Air Zoo shop about 5 years ago.  We got a briefing on extensive work being completed, in addition to wing spar replacement, to make the aircraft ultra-safe again as an airliner. An old Johnson Flying Service sign and the original plane's number were displayed on the shop wall.

After the two restoration projects, the plane has a modernized fuel system, three upgraded Pratt & Whitney engines, a new electrical system, and updated brakes, among other improvements.

The most recent restorers decided to jazz up the plane’s appearance with identification from a slightly different model Tri-Motor flown by the U.S. Army’s 60^th Service Squadron as a medical transport. Those Tri-Motors started flying in 1930.

Despite the changes, we will be taking a ride in the direct descendant of N8419, a designation the Air Zoo Tri-Motor can carry with pride reflecting its many years of service as one of the first all-metal airliners in the world. We’re looking forward to a happy landing.