When a Ford Tri-Motor is stationary, the propellers on the front and sides of the plane are easy to see.
But when the pilot fires up the engine and is readying for take off, the propellers move so fast they nearly disappear from sight.
Their deafening sound overtakes the enclosed cabin. It’s the kind of sound that makes a modern airline traveler, one who’s used to the quiet take off and taxiing of a Boeing Jet, a little uneasy.
It was probably worse for an airline passenger in the Roaring Twenties who had never been in the sky before. Trusting a machine that was roaring that loudly would have been difficult.
But as it takes off, the smooth ride and sights from above make it easy to see how it revolutionized the airline industry.
The Monroe County Airport brought a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor airplane to Bloomington this weekend in celebration of its 75th anniversary.
The Tri-Motor, owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association, has been traveling around the country to give people the chance to be taken back in time.
The plane is one of 199 built by the Ford Motor Company from 1926 to 1933.
Tom Leahy, an EAA volunteer pilot and the man in the cockpit this weekend, said the Tri-Motor is a huge part of aviation history.
“This is the airplane that brought people into the airline age as we know it,” he said. “Before this, there really wasn’t any airline service.”
According to the EAA, this plane model led to the construction of the first airline terminal for passengers and it was the first regularly scheduled passenger airline to operate.
The model that visited Bloomington this weekend has its own history. It operated under Eastern Airlines before it was sold to a Central American airline. It inaugurated air service between two Cuban cities: Havana and Santiago de Cuba.
Later, the government of the Dominican Republic flew it, according to the EAA.
It went on to be a crop dusting plane, a borate bomber in aerial firefighting and finally a plane in airshows.
In 1973, a thunderstorm ripped the aircraft from the ground and onto its back. The EAA purchased the wreckage and after a 12-year restoration process, it was back to its former glory.
The immense history of the Tri-Motor is one of the reasons the Monroe County Airport applied to be a stop on the tour. But more importantly, it’s to represent the history of aviation in Bloomington.
“Aviation has always been an important part of the Bloomington community,” Gene DeVane, a member of the Monroe County Aviation Board, said.
The Tri-Motor, which flew through the Monroe County airport many years ago, is symbolic to the efforts the regional airport has been making to expand.
Over the past few years, the airport has invested large amounts of money to straightening the runway to allow larger aircrafts to land there.
“That has increased our visibility all around the world,” DeVane said.
Ken Ritchie, vice president of the Aviation Board, detailed the efforts the airport has been taking to increase economic development in the region.
For companies that need quick access to air travel, it can be convenient to have a smaller location like the country airport. This helps them avoid the traffic of commercial airports like the one in Indianapolis.
Expanding the county airport would expand the number of companies that can be located there, which would bring more business and jobs to Bloomington and the surrounding towns.
“If you don’t have an airport in this day and age, you’re not going to grow,” Ritchie said. “It’s very important for the taxpayers to understand that we’re contributing to the economic growth, vitality and the future of Monroe County and the entire region.”
The Monroe County Airport has been working to expand into the Bloomington and regional community as well. The Aviation Board members said they seem largely hidden to residents and that it’s the best kept secret in Bloomington.
But they want more community involvement.
“There’s a lot of heritage that we have to be proud of and appreciate,” Ritchie said. “The Monroe County Airport is what ties you to that heritage. And it’s also going to tie you to the future growth and prosperity of Bloomington.”
