EAA Ford Tri-Motor Tour Sets Passenger Record

February 12, 2015 – EAA's Ford Tri-Motor NC8407 flew a record number of passengers during its tour stop last weekend at Dona Ana County Airport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The three-and-a-half day tour stop co-hosted by the War Eagles Air Museum and EAA Chapter 555 of Las Cruces, New Mexico, saw the airplane make 89 separate flights providing more than 800 passengers with rides on the vintage airliner.

"That's a remarkable total," said Kristin Busse, EAA air tours manager. "The chapter and the museum created a model tour stop that we here in Oshkosh and other hosts will strive to replicate in the future. That is the best ever three-and-a-half day tour stop we've ever had for the Ford Tri-Motor."

Final numbers have not been submitted yet, but based on the preliminary report, the tour accomodated more passengers than ever before in a single three-and-a-half day weekend tour stop. What's more, Chapter 555 reported 20 new members joined EAA during the weekend, while the museum experienced increased traffic and attention that will directly benefit the facility well into the future.

Busse thanked all the volunteers and the entire crew for their seamless handling of the constant flow of passengers and for working long hours early and late in the day to accommodate all riders.  Even more amazing was they did it with a finicky credit card reader that worked only a third of the time.