Vintage Luxury Airliner Takes Flight At Waukegan Airport

WAUKEGAN, IL — A piece of aviation history is on display this weekend at the airport in Waukegan. Visitors can experience what it was like for passengers nation's first luxury airliner nearly a century ago, as local aviation enthusiasts offer tours and flights on a 92-year-old Ford Tri-Motor propeller plane.

The event is being sponsored by the Lake County chapter of the Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based Experimental Aircraft Association, or EAA.

Jeff Schreiber, president of EAA Chapter 414, said the visit is the first time in recent memory that a Tri-Motor has visited Waukegan. Built in 1929, the 10-seat plane has an unpressured cabin and flies much lower and slower than modern aircraft.

"It flies pretty slow. It cruises at about 80 miles an hour, it can maybe hit 100 if everything is just right," Schreiber said. "For the rides around here, it will probably only go to 2,000-3,000 feet, maybe 5,000."

Tours and 15-minute flights on the Tri-Motor run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Sunday. Tickets are $72 for adults who pre-book, walk-up tickets are $77, and tickets for those under age 18 are $52.

For an extra fee, visitors may also book a seat in the cockpit alongside the pilot.

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Don Vancura, an aviator and EAA Chapter 414 member, highly recommended the experience for anyone who has the opportunity.

"I knew I would enjoy it but it was 10 times more exciting than I anticipated. It's an incredible airplane," Vancura told Patch shortly after his first ride on the plane.

"The sound of the engines, the three of them, it's a harmony there. It's kind of like riding a Harley in the air —very powerful sounding," he said. "Amazingly, it doesn't need much runway, it basically jumps in the air. It's not fast, but it's just very solid and lands very short. It's a surprisingly well-performing aircraft for 1929."

Formed more than four decades ago, EAA Chapter 414 has 62 members, according to Schreiber. It holds meetings at the headquarters of the Warbird Heritage Foundation, the antique aircraft nonprofit founded by Lake Forest resident Paul Wood.

The EAA's Tri-Motor originally was used by Pitcairn Aviation, which later became Eastern Airlines, before flying in Cuba as a crop duster and firefighting plane, according to the association. In the 1960's and early 1970s, it started to be used for recreational passenger flights.

Paul Poberezny, founder of EAA, purchased the plane after it was severely damaged in a 1973 thunderstorm. Along with staff and volunteers, he worked a dozen years to restore it. It has been carrying passengers again since 1985, and, in 2009, appeared in the movie "Public Enemies," starring Johnny Depp, according to EAA.

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The restored Tri-Motor plane has been slightly modified from its original design, mostly for safety, according to the chapter president. It now has a GPS system and modern radios, and the original wicker seats have been replaced with leather.

"You can read about things in years past," Vancura said. "But when you actually go in this plane, you're touching a piece of history."