Ford Flivver Airplane #1, 1926

Summary

Just as he put the world on wheels with the Model T, Henry Ford hoped to give it wings with a small, affordable airplane. Three or four prototype Flivver planes were built, but Ford abandoned the project after his test pilot, Harry Brooks, died in a Flivver crash near Melbourne, Florida, in 1928.

Just as he put the world on wheels with the Model T, Henry Ford hoped to give it wings with a small, affordable airplane. Three or four prototype Flivver planes were built, but Ford abandoned the project after his test pilot, Harry Brooks, died in a Flivver crash near Melbourne, Florida, in 1928.

Artifact

Airplane

Date Made

1926

Creators

Coppen, Otto 

Ford Motor Company 

Place of Creation

United States, Michigan, Dearborn 

Creator Notes

Designed by Otto Coppen and made by Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan.

Heroes Of The Sky
 On Exhibit

at Henry Ford Museum in Heroes of the Sky

Object ID

28.481.1

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Aluminum (Metal)
Leather
Metal
Wood (Plant material)

Dimensions

Height: 6.125 ft

Width: 22.833 ft

Length: 15.333 ft

Inscriptions

Marked in white each side: FORD Tail marked: 268 Wings aluminum painted silk marked underneath: FORD 268.

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