• The Need for Reform
  • A Visionary Reforms the Airline Industry
• Cross-Country by Air and Rail
• Aviation Becomes Big Business
• The Air Mail "Scandal"
• The Triumph of Technology
  • The NACA and the Modern Airliner
  • Results: NACA Contributions
  • What Makes an Airliner "Modern"?
• The Creation of the Modern Airport
  • Yesterday's Airports of Tomorrow
• The Beginning of Air Traffic Control
• Early Pilot and Flight Attendant Uniforms
• What Was It Like to Fly?
• Who Flew?
• Pan American Airways
  • The China Clipper
  • Aircraft

Ford 5-AT Tri-Motor

Affectionately known as the "Tin Goose," the Ford Tri-Motor was the largest civil aircraft in America when it first flew on August 2, 1926. This airplane on display above was restored by American Airlines.
Gift of American Airlines

Image number 97-15367
Credit: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum

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