Ford Tri-Motor: 1964

American Airlines refurbished this airplane and barnstormed the US (including this small Connecticut airfield) in 1964-1965 before donating it to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, where it hangs today. My father, an AA public relations manager, traveled with it much of the time. By his account, American's most senior pilots had maneuvered and politicked intensely for the privilege of stepping down from their 707s and 727s to this slow- and low-flying "Tin Goose." I even got to fly co-pilot for a few minutes myself; control response was so stately and deliberate that no harm was done.

I was told but cannot verify that FDR's flight to the 1932 Democratic convention in Chicago -- a first for a candidate at the time -- had been on this plane. View full size.