Stephan
As said in post 3, Henry Ford did indeed fly in the NYP on Aug 11, 1927.

In the Flying magazine 50th anniversary anthology “The Best of Flying” 1977…there is a three page reprint from the December 1927 issue of Popular Aviation. “When Ford went up” was written by Russell Wilks, a newspaperman who was there and was also invited on the Ford Tri-Motor flight that Lindbergh co-piloted with Henry as a passenger.

“A special seat was placed in the small cockpit” and Ford entered first followed by Lindbergh, so it sounds like the passenger was on the left. Ford’s son, Edsel, also flew in the Ryan.

Email me if you need a scan of the article.