Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Overcast (Cloud) and warm
Overcast (Cloud) and warm
The Tri-Motor Airplane Toys
Part II
It's hard to imagine that the Ford Tri-Motor airplane (the "real one") was made in 1925, a mere 18 years after the Wright Brothers successfully flew a heavier-than-air motorized airplane. The record and invention books describe their airplane (with 5 people who witnessed the flight) as having flown 852 yards or 779.06 M. By 1925, flight was somewhat "common", and airplanes could fly very long distances. Airplanes were getting bigger, flying longer, and hopefully were becoming safer.
The Tri-Motor was a beautiful aircraft , and since the invention of the motorized airplane was a mere 18 years old, seeing any plane was always a marvel of wonder and awe, especially if you lived in the countryside. The tri-motor became a airplane to model, and there were many, many different toymakers who created their own version (mostly exterior decoration and design) to their models.
If you read yesterdays post (The Tri-Motor Toy Airplanes _Part I), I realized that I would have to add at least 3 posts to present to you all of the beautiful toys that were made so long ago. Interestingly, many of the toys are within reach of most people who might want to buy one. Of course, the Fokker Cast Iron (Below) by Hubley is out of range for most of us. What's also interesting about many of these toy airplanes, is that they were ingeniously designed to have all 3 propellers rotate.
The "Fokker" Friendship Tri-Motor (below) is one of the rarer of all the Tri-Motor toys. In excellent condition, it can sell at auction in the $ 10,000 US and over range. It's rare,and has a clever series of winding cables to allow all 3 propellers to rotate at once.
Although not mentioned in the written description, I have a feeling that this toy also had its 3 propellers rotate simultaneously (at the same time). The reason for my mentioning this is that I see a small winding coil underneath the wheel well just below the right propeller.
The top airplane is not a tri-motor, but a toy replica of Charles Lindbergh's aircraft that was the first to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
One of my favourite of the tri-motor toys is the Metalcraft version below. This on (the larger silver airplane) is not in the best shape, but I like this toy for its details. The toy came in a kit form, and children would assemble the toy parts together.
If you read some of the written descriptions of these toys, you'll keep reading "nickel" or nickel-plated" propellers and even other parts. What is also of interest is to see the crossover of the different older and newer processes of the American manufacturers. On this post you can see the much older cast iron toys, as well as the newer and more modern pressed steel toys.
If you venture over to Wikipedia and search for the Tri-Motor, you'll see a nice collection of photos. Of course, just type in the word "Tri-Motor", on any search engine and you'll see these beautiful airplanes - the real versions!
When something is invented and has a wide and universal appeal, it never goes out-of-date.
Like the real airplane, like the toys - timeless!
Thanks for dropping by to visit,
and as always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be,
Stacey.
toysearcher@gmail.com
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