Dorian Walker of Bowling Green talks about flying a Flying Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, Thursday, June 19, 2014, that he restored, and will be available for viewing at Saturday's Bowling Green for Family Aviation Day at the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport. (Miranda Pederson/Daily News)

Flying a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor airplane is more tiring than flying a modern plane for pilot Dave Ross of Wakeman, Ohio.

“This is a lot of work,” Ross said of the Tri-Motor. “It’s all manpower. … You’re constantly readjusting it so it’s flying straight.”

Ross is serving as captain of the Tri-Motor this weekend, when flights on the historic plane are available to the public at the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport.

The plane is owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association, which is based in Oshkish, Wis., and has chapters across the world. The EAA takes the Tri-Motor all over the country, and this weekend, it’s in Bowling Green for Family Aviation Day at the airport Saturday, hosted by the local EAA chapter.

The plane seats nine passengers and offers a chance to experience what early commercial flights were like, said EAA member Terry Richardson of Franklin, who coordinated the Tri-Motor’s appearance at aviation day. 

“It really is a historical airplane. It’s hot and noisy, but that’s the way things used to be,” he said.

The Tri-Motor is the first all-metal, multi-engine commercial airliner and was used by Eastern Air Transport, which later became Eastern Airlines. This particular Tri-Motor was leased to Cubana Airlines and later used by the president of the Dominican Republic as his air force one. 

“There’s only four of these that (still) fly,” Ross said. “It’s priceless for the most part.”

Family Aviation Day will be at the airport from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and will feature a hangar exhibit about the history of military aviation training.

It will be the public debut of a restored 1918 Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane, the first massed-produced airplane used to train pilots in World War I. 

“People will be able to go out there and see this really important story come to life,” EAA member Dorian Walker of Bowling Green said.

The free event will include flight simulators, airport tours, food and free flights for children 8 and older who are interested in aviation. The Tri-Motor also will be available for short flights over Bowling Green at a cost of $75 for adults and $50 for children. 

In addition to Saturday, flights in the Tri-Motor will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Sunday.

— For more information about the Tri-Motor, visit flytheford.com.

— Follow faith/general assignments reporter Laurel Wilson on Twitter at twitter.com/FaithinBG or visit bgdailynews.com.