What is a Stearman and why did you want one?
Designed and implemented as a very successful primary U.S. Army and Navy trainer (Army PT17 and Navy N2S1/3), the Stearman “Kaydet” was the first airplane that thousands of military pilots flew in preparation for WWII. After the war, the aircraft became surplus and were sold for hundreds of dollars, typically in the $500.00 to $800.00 dollar range. Cheap and plentiful, the Stearman was known to also be one of the strongest and most capable aircraft ever produced. Surplus airplanes were purchased by fledgling flying schools, and in large batches by crop spraying and dusting outfits, both in the U.S. and other countries. The airplane is constructed of 4 wing panels, 1 center section which connects the 2 upper wing panels and holds the gas tank, a fuselage with tandem open cockpits, and an empenage of rudder, elevators, vertical fin, and horizontal stabilizor. The landing gear is conventional tailwheel configuration, and the main landing gear is made of telescoping tube arrangement, simil
