Ford Tri-Motor X5000

There were 199 Ford Tri-Motors built at Dearborn, Michigan, between 1926 and 1931, six of which came onto the UK register and one of these was impressed into the RAF and given the serial number X5000. There is a connection between this aircraft and Northern Ireland, which appeared to be something of a mystery.

The starting point is an entry at the Aviation Safety Network, which states that on 19^th September 1940:

Ford 5-AT-D Tri-Motor, c/n 5-AT-107, X5000, No 271 Squadron Royal Air Force, Year of manufacture: 1931, Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp.  Limavady RAF Station. The Tri-Motor ran into a ditch on take-off, sustaining irreparable damage.

So far so good, except that it entirely contradicts the entry in the Squadron’s Operational Record Book (Air27/1573), which states that on this day the Tri-Motor made a forced landing at Moor Farm, Co Down, on its way from Doncaster to Belfast, due to adverse weather conditions. There were no injuries, the damage to the airframe was slight, and the next day, the crew was flown back to Doncaster from Belfast in another of the Squadron’s aircraft. There is no further mention of X5000 in the OR Book:

19.9.40 17.40 FORD-TRI-MOTOR X.5000 P/O Bristow (pilot), P/O Paraskiewicz (nav), P/O Russell departed for BELFAST empty, some twenty miles from their destination, heavy rain was encountered, and visibility decreased. Owing to the fast failing light, and adverse weather conditions, the pilot decided to make a forced landing. This was carried out with skill in a confined space at Moor Farm, Co Down at 19.55. Damage resulted, but was of a comparatively slight nature, and largely due to ill luck. No injury was sustained by any member of the crew.

20.9.40 06.50 BOMBAY L.5851 F/O McGevor (pilot), P/O Marten (nav), SGT Kujawa and crew departed for BELFAST to pick up the intended passengers and crew of FORD-TRI-MOTOR X.5000 which force landed 19.9.40. Arrived BELFAST 09.00 hours and thence proceeded to USWORTH at 11.40.

The reason for the Tri-Motor’s flight to RAF Sydenham had been to pick up half a dozen pilots from No 88 Squadron for transfer to Fighter Command, as replacements were required urgently, following heavy casualties at the height of the Battle of Britain.

No reference is made to the Tri-Motor in John Quinn’s Wings Over The Foyle – A History of Limavady Airfield in WW2, nor is it listed in Gordon Bruce’s analysis of the aircraft handled by the Civil Repair Organisation at Sydenham.

So, did it fly from Moor Farm to Limavady? But why Limavady and not Belfast? Nor was the airfield construction at Limavady completed. Or is the reference to Limavady in error and the aircraft was broken up at Moor Farm and carted away for disposal?

It is of particular interest as this Tri-Motor was the only one of its type to serve with the RAF. It was one of six examples of the ‘Tin Goose’ on the British register and was originally NC440H before being re-registered as G-ACAE on 13th April 1933. It was used by Hon AE Guinness for his frequent flights between Eastleigh and Castleknock and was nominally registered to his personal pilot OS Baker.

Local historian, Tony Reynolds, notes:

When I was a child in the 1930s/1940s, the Guinness family landed their private planes in a field belonging to another local landed gentry family, the Laidlaws, who had several family members living on different landholdings in the Castleknock area. The former land used as an airfield is now a playing field situated beside a pub called ‘The Carpenter,’ in the town land of Carpenterstown, Castleknock.

The Tri-Motor was taken up by the RAF on 26th April 1940 along with other impressed airliners and took part in the retreat from France during May/June 1940 with 271 Squadron.

I reached out to Fedor van de Pol in Dublin, who is a mine of information and scrupulous research. His email to me was as follows:

It took me some time to search further. As you mention the Tri-Motor did not appear in 271 Squadron’s ORB anymore. It made sense to fly or truck the Tri-Motor to a repair organisation and I found the Tri-Motor in files about No 11 Repair & Salvage Unit, gleaned from AIR 29/802! It had a detachment at Aldergrove where it was scrapped. This document is in the Archive Room in the hangars, almost certainly compiled by Keith Lloyd.

The relevant portion states:

            On 25^th No 1 Salvage Section was sent to Portavogie, Co. Down, to lift the Ford 5-AT Tri-Motor X5000 from a ditch. The aircraft, which was on the books of No 271 Squadron had overshot a forced landing in bad weather and hit a ditch in the local area of Moor Farm, Ballyminerra on 19^th September. On 28^th X5000 was salvaged and brought back to Aldergrove, where it was scrapped on 28^th November.

The lessons I would take away from this are: don’t always trust everything you read on the internet no matter how authoritative a source may seem, always try and verify information from more than one source if possible and consult others who may know more than you!

So that is the puzzle solved? Well, not quite. Some 40 years ago an excellent series featured in the Ulster Air Mail: 

Ulster’s Airfields – The Complete Story by Ernie Cromie, Ray Burrows and Bob Wilson. This states that the Tri-Motor force-landed in a field near Groomsport. Portavogie is 16 miles further south along the Ards Peninsula. I consulted a local historian in Donaghadee, Robert Neill, who emailed me with the following, ‘Moor Farm is at the top Stockbridge Road, between Stockbridge Road and Kylestone Road, which is about halfway between Groomsport and Donaghadee.’ However, the OR Book entry stated that the forced-landing was ‘some 20 miles from destination’. As the crow flies, it is 20 miles from Portavogie to Belfast, while Groomsport is half that distance.