One of the first light multi-engine airplanes, the Kreutzer Air Coach was an airplane with no market. The little tri-motor had just six seats, and even in its most powerful version it never had more than 300 combined horsepower. With these limitations, it’s hard to imagine an application that would not have been more efficiently accomplished with a single-engine airplane. Very few Air Coaches were built, but they did have one thing to offer that no other 300 hp airplane could. That was, of course, multi-engine safety. Unfortunately, this also meant you had to start, feed, and maintain three 100 hp Kinner engines. They were tried in short-lived airline service, but where the airplane seemed to do its best work was in the bush freight trade. The last flying example was used in the high country of Mexico for just such an endeavor before it was put in storage to fly another day. This was fortunate for us, as the sound of three Kinners flying in this type of formation is truly marvelous.
