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Home » Flivver: The tragic accident that caused Henry Ford to give up flying cars
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Flivver: The tragic accident that caused Henry Ford to give up flying cars

The founder of the Ford automobile manufacturer made it clear in the name of the company that this is an engine company-not necessarily a car. Therefore, Henry Ford explored the various areas of the legacy left, producing vehicles, tools and mechanisms in shipbuilding, civil construction, agriculture, and even communications with radio broadcasting.

However, with the advent of the 20th century, the founder was tempted to explore the greatest area of ​​charm and innovation at the time; aviation. The Americans quickly mobilized and entered a new wave of transportation in the 1920s and 1930s.

In 1925, the first result became the Ford Trimotor, an entire metal aircraft, which performed civilian transport and, mainly, combat work. With the happy initial result, Henry made a point of going even deeper, looking for a solution for daily use at affordable costs, thus creating Flivver, his “flying car”.

Henry e Harry

For the development and testing of both aircraft, Henry had a close friend to guide the machines, as the American magazine Air Space says. Harry J. Brooks was just 23 years old when he met the motorsport icon, being introduced by his father, Joseph , a violinist Ford was a fan of.

When he learned that his friend’s son was a fan of aviation, he insisted on taking him to see the aircraft and, in a short time, become his test pilot. For three years, he successfully tested the Trimotor on its first three versions.

With Flivver, however, the relationship was even more affectionate; the vehicle was designed to travel both on airways and on highways, being a more compact and popular type of aircraft. Ford ordered that it should only be piloted by the prodigy boy, basically delivering it as a gift.

As echoed by the magazine, only the legendary pilot Charles Lindbergh was invited by Brooks to drive the air vehicle. With the exception of the occasion, the young man was the only driver for two years, breaking distance records with the small plane throughout American territory, being interrupted by an unfortunate episode.

In the late afternoon of February 25, 1928, the pilot landed in Titusville after making a 930-mile flight, previously a record for aircraft with less than 40 horsepower.

After repairing a gas leak and replacing a propeller, he resumed flying to Miami, never to be seen alive. The young man’s body was never found again, however, parts of the plane were located the next day, in addition to having his wallet located by Boy Scouts weeks later.

Brooks’ death was responsible for emotionally destroying Henry ; seen as a son and an important part for the implementation of the vehicle, the entrepreneur even continued the production of the Trimotor, but decided to stop the attempt to make the flying car shortly afterwards.

William Stout , designer of the first aircraft, came to witness the chief’s disappointment, as reported in the biography So Away I Went !: “Mr. Ford was two people. On the one hand, he was a very human man and, on the other, a mystical. There were sides to his own psychology that even he didn’t fully understand. “

Along with him, Harold Hicks , the company’s chief aircraft engineer, also saw the disappointment; When presenting improvements to solve possible problems that resulted in the crash, Henry asked what it was for: “I said, ‘Well, it’s good for a Flivver plane’. He said, ‘What are they for?'”, demonstrating his lack of interest in producing so dangerous machines.

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