Boeing-Stearman Model 75
The Stearman Model 75 is a biplane formerly used as a military trainer aircraft, of which at least 10,626 were built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934. Widely known as the Stearman, Boeing Stearman or Kaydet, it served as a primary trainer for the United States Army Air Forces, the United States Navy, and with the Royal Canadian Air Force as the Kaydet throughout World War II. After the conflict was over, thousands of surplus aircraft were sold on the civilian market. In the immediate postwar years they became popular as crop dusters, sports planes, and for aerobatic and wing walking use in air shows.
Design and development
The Kaydet was a conventional biplane of rugged construction with a large, fixed tailwheel undercarriage, and accommodation for the student and instructor in open cockpits in tandem. The radial engine was usually uncowled, although some Stearman operators choose to cowl the engine, most notably the Red Baron Stearman Squadron.Operational history
Post-war usage
After World War II, thousands of surplus PT-17s were auctioned off to civilians and former military pilots. Many were modified for cropdusting use, with a hopper for pesticide or fertilizer fitted in place of the front cockpit. Additional equipment included pumps, spray bars, and nozzles mounted below the lower wings. A popular approved modification to increase the maximum takeoff weight and climb performance involved fitting a larger Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior engine and a constant-speed propeller.Variants
Data from:United States Navy aircraft since 1911, Boeing aircraft since 1916The U.S. Army Air Forces Kaydet had three different designations based on its power plant:
;PT-13: with a Lycoming R-680 engine. 2,141 total all models.
;PT-17: With a Continental R-670-5 engine. 3,519 delivered
;PT-18
;PT-27
The U.S. Navy had several versions including:
;NS
;N2S :Known colloquially as the "Yellow Peril" from its overall-yellow paint scheme.
;Stearman 70
;Model 73
;Stearman 75
;Stearman 76
;Stearman 90 and 91
;Stearman XPT-943
;American Airmotive NA-75
Operators
- Argentine Air Force
- Argentine Navy received 16 Model 76D1s 1936 to 1937 and 60 N2S Kaydet post-war; all were retired by the early 1960s
- Bolivian Air Force
- Cuban Air Force
- Dominican Air Force
- Hellenic Air Force
- Guatemalan Air Force
- Honduran Air Force
Surviving aircraft
A considerable number of Stearmans remain in flying condition throughout the world, as the type remains a popular sport plane and warbird.; Argentina
- 308 – N2S-5 airworthy at the Argentine Naval Aviation Museum in Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires.
- K-132 – A75L3 on display at the Museu Aeroespacial in Rio de Janeiro.
- K-210 – A76C3 on display at the Museu Aeroespacial in Rio de Janeiro.
- 38010 – N2S-3 on display at the TAM Museum in São Carlos, São Paulo.
- 41-8621 – PT-17 airworthy at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario.
- 42-17456 – PT-13D owned by Daniel Jones of Lacombe, Alberta.
- 5284 – N2S-3 under restoration to airworthy with Daniel Jones of Lacombe, Alberta.
- 5293 – N2S-3 owned by J. Kurtin of Collingwood, Ontario.
- 30083 – N2S-4 on display at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.
- 61105 – N2S-5 with Bruce Bond of Sarnia, Ontario.
- FAC-62 – PT-17 airworthy.
- FAC-1995 – PT-17 airworthy.
- T5-1556 – PT-17 airworthy with Erling Pétur Erlingsson in Hafnarfjörður, Capital Region. It is the oldest airplane in Iceland. It was brought to the country in 1941 by the aircraft carrier USS Wasp and damaged in an accident in 1943.
- 2752 – PT-17 airworthy at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim.
- PT-17 on display at the Air College.
- PT-17 on display at the Air College.
- PT-17 on display at the Air College.
- 75-7213 - N2S-3 airworthy, registered as N9912H, owned by Nordsiek family and based at Breda International Airport.
- 75-647 – PT-17 Registered as ZK-RJS
- 75-2055 – PT-17 Registered as ZK-BWR
- 75-2100 – PT-17 Registered as ZK-KJO
- 75-2724 – PT-17 Registered as ZK-STM
- 75-3132 – PT-17 Registered as ZK-TGA
- 75-3655 – PT-17 Registered as ZK-USN
- 75-4245 – PT-17 Registered as ZK-PJS
- 75-5064 – PT-13D Registered as ZK-BOE
- 75-5907 – PT-13D Registered as ZK-XAF
- 75-8025A – N2S-3 Registered as ZK-USA
- PT-17 is on display at the Instituto de Estudios Históricos Aeroespaciales del Perú, Miraflores, Lima.
- PT-13 on display at the Fundación Infante de Orleans in Cuatro Vientos, Madrid.
- PT-17 on display at the Fundación Infante de Orleans in Cuatro Vientos, Madrid.
- PT-13D belonging to the Stearman Club, built in 1943 and restored in 1990 after a crash due to an engine failure, is based at the Fliegermuseum Altenrhein
- PT-17 on static display at the Aviation Education Exhibition Hall in Gangshan District, Kaohsiung City.
in Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Model 70 airworthy at the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon. It is the original prototype of the Model 75.
- 37-0099 – PT-13A on static display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.
- 41-7960 – PT-17 airworthy at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi. It is used as a research aircraft and glider tow-plane.
- 41-8786 – PT-17 in storage at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
- 41-8882 – PT-17 on static display at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
- 41-25454 – PT-17 airworthy with the Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts.
- 41-25284 – PT-17 on static display at the Hill Aerospace Museum in Roy, Utah.
- 41-25588 – PT-17 airworthy at the Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, California.
- 41-25623 – PT-17 on display at Patriots Point in Charleston, South Carolina.
- 42-15687 – PT-27 on display at the Vintage Flying Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.
- 42-16365 – PT-17 on static display at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, Georgia.
- 42-16388 – PT-17D on static display at the March Field Air Museum near Riverside, California.
- 42-16691 – PT-17 on static display at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California.
- 42-17591 – PT-13D on static display at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.
- 42-17724 – PT-13D on static display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. It was used in 1944 to train members of the Tuskegee Airmen.
- 42-17763 – PT-13D on static display at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Valle, Arizona.
- 42-17800 – PT-13D on static display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. This aircraft is the 63rd to the last one built and was donated to the museum in 1959 by the Boeing Aircraft Company, which purchased the Stearman Company in 1934.
- 3558 – N2S-2 under restoration to airworthy at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.
- 5369 – N2S-3 on static display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. It was flown by George H. W. Bush during his initial training as a naval pilot.
- 7591 – N2S-3 airworthy at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in Titusville, Florida.
- 7718 – N2S-3 airworthy at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, Texas.
- 15923 – N2S on static display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- 29981 – N2S-4 on display at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
- 38278 – N2S-3 airworthy at the Tri-State Warbird Museum in Batavia, Ohio.
- 38490 – N2S-5 airworthy at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, Texas.
- 43197 – N2S-5 under restoration to airworthy condition with the Commemorative Air Force Utah Wing in Heber City, Utah.
- 61064 – N2S-5 on static display at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia.
- 92468 – N2S-3 on static display at the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was flown by George H. W. Bush during his initial training as a naval pilot.
- PT-17 airworthy at the Military Aviation Museum in Pungo, Virginia.
- N2S-3 is on display at the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon.
Specifications (PT-17)
In popular culture
An iconic movie image is a Stearman cropduster chasing Cary Grant across a field in North by Northwest.Videography
- Stearman, Lloyd. Stearmans, You Gotta Love Them. Lap Records, 2005.