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The Ford 'Flivver' , envisioned by Henry Ford to be a "Flying Model T", an everyman's airplane. It weighed a mere 350 lbs., & Ford even specified that the plane be small enough to fit inside his office.
The Flivver’s versatility was demonstrated on several occasions by Ford's Chief Test Pilot, Harry Brooks. He used the first model of the aircraft to commute daily from his home to the Ford laboratories. Later, Brooks used the second Flivver to move about the Ford properties. The Flivver was ideal for getting in and out of tight places. In February of 1928, Brooks set out on a non-stop flight from Dearborn, Michigan to Miami, Florida in the improved second model of the Flivver. Brooks was forced to land on the beach near Titusville, Florida due to a fuel leak. Though he fell short of Miami, he did set a new world distance record for light planes at 972 miles. Four days later, Brooks attempted to complete his journey to Miami. Unfortunately, the aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after apparently experiencing engine trouble. The plane wreckage was recovered, but Brooks’ body was never found. Henry Ford was so discouraged by this tragedy (he considered, & treated Brooks as a family member) that he halted development of the Flivver. It was never to see production, with only three distinct prototypes being
built. The prototype Flivver was placed in the Ford Museum in Dearborn later that year. The E.A.A. (Experimental Aircraft Assoc.) commissioned a full scale, flying replica, which is now housed at the EAA AirVenture Museum where it now has an honored place in aviation history.
Charles Lindbergh had the distinction of being the only pilot other than Ford’s Harry Brooks, to fly the Flivver.
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The Williams Bros. kit has been around for sometime. I've always like their kits. Great, sometimes offbeat subjects. In some ways, Williams Bros. kits were like the first 'limited run' kits. Demanding a little above average skills, & effort but easily turned into excellent models.
Although they give you decals for two versions (one for short ailerons, & an earlier version which had full-span ones), I didn't feel constrained by these marking suggestions, and rather mixed & matched to suit my tastes. Research showed that Ford even changed the markings when they restored their surviving example, & photos show all sorts of minor changes.
Building a Williams Bros. kit, is
rather like tackling one of the later Classic Airframe kits. A little heavy
flash (at times), no locator pins, etc., but it's really a fun build.
Easy, if Spartan instruction sheet (singular), with an interesting
twist...many of the drawings are in 1/48th scale, so you can check placement
with the sheet, a'la a blueprint.
Although the kit includes a
length of mono-filament (taped to instructions...a nice touch), I used
thin Bobe's EZ-Line for the tail rigging. Testors Model Master Blue Angel Blue
(a very useful color) matched the blue of the decals. I mixed a silver (half
chrome/half aluminum) for the wing, etc.
Looks great next to my Ryan
Spirit of St. Louis.
Michael Presley
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