After reading about my Rhinebeck Aerodrome flight last month, my friend John said, “We should ask Tom about a flight in his Stearman when we’re in Arizona — if you’d like to go up.”

Like to go up in a biplane again?

You have to ask? Oh, hell yes!

For me, 2018 turned into the year of human flight history. My October travels took me from standing under a Saturn V Rocket in Huntsville, Alabama, to standing in front of oldest flying airplane in the country at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome in New York State. A few minutes later, I taxied down a grass strip at the Aerodrome and took to the air in a 1929 New Standard D-25.

And now this 🙂 .

On a brilliant day near Tucson, I made my second biplane flight — this time in a 1941 Boeing Stearman airplane built to train WWII pilots.

History of the Stearman

The legendary Stearman Biplanes are named for their designer, Lloyd Stearman, who founded the Stearman Aircraft Corporation and began building his biplanes in Wichita, Kansas.

United Aircraft and Transportation Corporation bought the the company two years later — then after trust-busting legislation forced United Aircraft to separate its plane building and flying businesses, Boeing became a separate company, with Stearman as one of its divisions.

In 1934, Stearman introduced the Kaydet, a two seater biplane that played a major role during World War II. While the biplane’s design was old-fashioned (fabric-covered wooden wings, single-leg landing gear and a welded-steel fuselage, powered by a radial engine) compared to the fighting warbirds, its rugged construction made it ideal as a trainer for new pilots in both the Army and the Navy.

How many Stearman Kaydets did Boeing build? In eight years — 1936 -1944 — Boeing produced 8,584 Kaydets plus the equivalent of 2,000 more in spares.

Boeing sold Stearman Kaydets to the U.S. Navy and the Army Air Corps, as well as to Canada, China, the Philippines, Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil for both military and civilian uses. Many are still flying today.

Flying in the Stearman Biplane

Tom Torchia bought his Stearman in 2009, and I’d say his love affair with his biplane is a thing of beauty. After his great gift to me — the flight in his World War II airplane, we sat and talked for hours. My favorite part of that? Hearing him tell the story of flying his Stearman clear across the United States — from Seattle to the east coast and up past New York city into the upstate area — and then all the way back home. YES! I’ll be sharing his entire adventure in a full article later 🙂 .

I leave you with a little video from my flight in Tom’s Stearman. You’ll see three clips: level flight near Marana airport, a wingover maneuver — when Tom dips one wing and pivots the plane around the lower wingtip — very fun — and finally landing back at Marana.

What a day it was!

I’m currently on the road in southern Arizona, and this is a simple, short post along the way.

Journal entries are just that — quick, in the moment, on the road posts — rough, barely edited, and on the go. Look for finished articles everywhere else on my blog!