The Ford
Motor Company purchased the Stout Metal Airplane Company
in 1925 to further develop the Stout 2-AT Pullman. A
three-engine version of the Pullman, designated the 3-AT was a
failure and only one was built.
The first of the famous (successful) Ford
Trimotors was the 4-AT of which the prototype flew in 1926.
Ford left the aircraft business in 1932 because of
the Great Depression.
Ford re-entered the aircraft business in 1941 to
build a huge factory at Willow Run, Michigan. This plant built
over 6,900 B-24s by the end of World War II.
