Cruisin' in the Snow Flyer
by Willy Vinton
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum
For several years we have taken our 1917 Model T Snow Flyer to the annual Tired Iron vintage snowmobile rally in Fairbanks. Alas, the event has grown so popular that there is no longer sufficient room to run the Flyer at the rally, even though it is surely the oldest snowmobile in town. We enjoy letting kids go for a ride in the Flyer, but need more space and fewer pedestrians to do so in a safe manner.
So, this year we decided to instead provide rides at Wedgewood Resort, home to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. Approximately 45 kids ages 12 and under enjoyed rides on February 24, along with a few "over 12" kids (also known as "parents"). The old Snow Flyer performed without a hitch and brought a lot of smiles to all that were around it. I think we will do this again next year, as it was a lot of fun and a great success.
Our Snow Flyer is mounted on a 1917 Ford, so there is no electric starter, only a hand crank (Ford first offered an electric starter in 1918). Seeing how we had to start the engine also brought a lot of grins from the kids.
A big thanks to Mike Lecorchick and Rod Benson for all their help loading and unloading kids, and making sure that everything ran smoothly and safely. In between the children's ride, Mike and Rod got to spend some time driving the Snow Flyer. We even got Tim Cerny, the museum's owner, to take a spin around the grounds with it.
You can see a 2010 video of our Snow Flyer here.
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum
For several years we have taken our 1917 Model T Snow Flyer to the annual Tired Iron vintage snowmobile rally in Fairbanks. Alas, the event has grown so popular that there is no longer sufficient room to run the Flyer at the rally, even though it is surely the oldest snowmobile in town. We enjoy letting kids go for a ride in the Flyer, but need more space and fewer pedestrians to do so in a safe manner.So, this year we decided to instead provide rides at Wedgewood Resort, home to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. Approximately 45 kids ages 12 and under enjoyed rides on February 24, along with a few "over 12" kids (also known as "parents"). The old Snow Flyer performed without a hitch and brought a lot of smiles to all that were around it. I think we will do this again next year, as it was a lot of fun and a great success.
Our Snow Flyer is mounted on a 1917 Ford, so there is no electric starter, only a hand crank (Ford first offered an electric starter in 1918). Seeing how we had to start the engine also brought a lot of grins from the kids.
A big thanks to Mike Lecorchick and Rod Benson for all their help loading and unloading kids, and making sure that everything ran smoothly and safely. In between the children's ride, Mike and Rod got to spend some time driving the Snow Flyer. We even got Tim Cerny, the museum's owner, to take a spin around the grounds with it.
You can see a 2010 video of our Snow Flyer here.