“Photo by Ron Kaplan taken at EAA AirVenture 2026 on July 20.
Given the historic nature of the TAT Tri-Motor ‘City of Wichita’ and its inaugural passenger flight from Port Columbus in 1929, I knocked the image to black-and-white.”
— Ron Kaplan
Picture of the Day: Oct. 7, 2026
TAT Tri-Motor taxiing out.
Key Takeaways:
- Ron Kaplan photographed the TAT Tri-Motor 'City of Wichita' at EAA AirVenture 2026.
- The aircraft holds historical significance for its inaugural passenger flight from Port Columbus in 1929.
- Kaplan intentionally processed the image in black-and-white to emphasize and honor the plane's historic nature.
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It was my honor to maintain 9645 from 1994 to 2005. After flying for TAT she ended up in Mexico flying coal. There is a photo of her on Brown Field in CA with smooth skin and zero engine cowling in the late 60’s. Harrah’s restored it in Reno, named her the City of Reno, and started flying again about 1974. It then sold to a collection in Coeur d’Alene ID about 1981. Evergreen bought it in about 1990, maybe '91 (sorry I don’t have accurate dates). I got involved with it at Troutdale OR in 1994, first changing a magneto seal. That job lead to more work on it, then led me to becoming Evergreen’s restoration manager. I left in 2005. I think 9645 sold in 2012 or so. She originally had Pratt 420s mounted. During restoration they installed 450HP R985 which are very different than the original 420s. She ran ok in low altitude, but really liked being above 5000 feet. The R985 was designed to use a constant speed propeller and they didn’t like the original fixed pitch HS props.