“ The gear legs do not flex at all,” he says, explaining that they’re all part of a one-piece construction bolted to the bottom of the fuselage. It’s built stronger than a bridge.” He then described what internal and external structures make it so tough, including how moving the wing ribs closer together “ beefed it up.”Īviation expert Budd Davisson 2 says that all of the fuselage tubing is as big and thick as a gas pipe, and its tail wheel strut is heavier than the main gear on many larger aircraft. He describes the Boeing-Stearman Model 75 as the “ strongest airplane ever built. Walker first flew a Stearman back in 1995, when his friend LeRoy Peterson gave him a ride in his renovated Model 75.
That’s how cheap they were! General Characteristics 4 PT Stearman photo by Chad Horwedel, used under license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.Ĭapt.
Walker shared with me is that after the war, civilians bought Stearmans not just for agricultural purposes, but because there was a gasoline shortage and the military sold surplus aircraft full of gasoline. His personally authored Boeing-Stearman training guide can be downloaded here.Īn interesting bit of history Capt. He was excited to share his knowledge on the remarkable, iconic biplane, including its history, joys, and challenges. As of late, Captain Walker has been flying 964 in Arizona and was inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame in 2011. The N2S-3 has won three First Place Awards as well as Best in Show at shows in Texas. Captain Walker restored and sold his Boeing-Stearman Navy N2S-3 964 to the Commemorative Air Force, where it is flown at the Arizona Airbase (owned by the American Airpower Heritage Foundation) by him and four other pilots. He was an FAA examiner and test pilot for the Airbus A-320, and has flown over 250 varieties of aircraft over his career as a pilot. Captain Billy Walker, from his personal website .Īfter spending 20 years flying for Frontier Airlines, Captain Walker spent some time with the Air Line Pilots Association and America West Airlines (training pilots to fly the Airbus) before joining the JetBlue Airways start up team. I asked him how he was doing, to which he replied, “ Handsome, but humble.” I immediately knew this was going to be a fun chat. I got in touch with Captain Billy Walker just as he was touching down after a flight in his Boeing-Stearman Model 75 biplane. Interview with Captain Billy Walker on the Boeing-Stearman Model 75 When Boeing signed Stearman on as a subsidiary in 1934 and put them to work building a trainer for the military, no one anticipated just how successful their little biplane trainer would become 2. Easy to fly and simple to maintain, this incredibly sturdy wood, metal, and fabric biplane became known as fairly forgiving of new pilots while still requiring their full attention (mostly regarding coordination) 1. 8 In fact, Captain Billy Walker, an experienced pilot and aviation expert, says that “ Crop dusters saved the Stearman.” If there hadn’t been such a market for these airplanes, he says it’s unlikely that so many would be alive and airworthy today.
The average cost to the military for each biplane was between $10-11,000 ($201,000 with inflation – pricey, but still much cheaper than the $4.272 million T-6 Texan II 9, a USAF single-engine turboprop trainer) 2, 8. After WWII when production of the Model 75 ended, civilians could pick up their very own at auction for roughly $500 ($6,700 with inflation) 2, which made them very popular for both agricultural and aerobatic use.
The PT-17 was the most popular, with 3,519 airplanes built. The Model 75 went through a few variants and dozens of subvariants over its careers in the USAF, the Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force (where it gained the name “Kaydet” 1) with the USAF giving the airplane three different designations based on the engine in the airplane. The Model 75 was introduced to the United States Army Air Forces as a military trainer aircraft in 1934 and remained in production through 1945. History of the Boeing-Stearman Model 75 Biplane According to Warbird Alley 1, of the 10,584 airplanes built (around 8,584 fully built, with the equivalent of 2,000 more planes worth of spare parts 2, 7), 1,000 are still flying today, whether it’s dusting/spraying crops or flying aerobatic shows with revved up engines. Nothing says “Adventure” like a radial engine biplane tearing through the clouds, and the Boeing-Stearman Model 75 says it loudest of all. Stearman Biplane, Boeing-Stearman Model 75, PT-17, or Kaydet: A Biplane by Any Other Nameįeatured image “Taxi for 17” of a Boeing-Stearman taken by Lane Pearman, used under license CC by 2.0.