As I pulled the plane out of the hangar at home in Fort Worth I saw several folks launch for Gainesville.  Cessna 180’s and 195’s, not one but two Davis Monoplanes and several RV homebuilts were all departing at the same time.  And all from just our airport!  We have a pretty good collection of planes around here.  I would be flying up with the Stearman and off my wing a 1946 Luscombe 8E.  The half-hour flight up is uneventful and though the winds were strong they were right down the runway.  We flew in on Friday afternoon to join the half dozen aircraft already there.  The majority would fly in Saturday just for the day.  In all I think we had over 150 aircraft there.

Saturday morning was the traditional fly-in breakfast, pancakes!  The sun came out and more folks started to show up.  I spent a lot of my time just hanging around the aircraft answering questions and talking with folks, that’s why I bought the plane!  I met a lot of people and made several new friends.  Of course I stole myself away for a while to admire some beautiful aircraft. A Stinson Gullwing and Beech Staggerwing among my favorites.  It’s funny what you can get used to, almost anything I would imagine. I’m admiring this beautiful Beechcraft and answer the owner’s question, yes I flew in too – Oh, just that Stearman over there.  Their eyes light up and they get excited, who doesn’t love a Stearman?  And he looks at my plane while I stand there and look at his.  I guess maybe to him it’s just his ‘ol Staggerwing, he’s gotten used to it.  But sharing these experiences lets me see the airplane for the first time again and again. To see her as new and full of wonder and excitement.

Maybe that’s just me. So I love to share the plane with people and see that wonder in them.  As fly-ins go this was a good one, and my first of hopefully many.  Great people, great food, and our love of all things “old airplane” bringing us together.

[sc:Bottom-of-Post

The post Our first airshow appeared first on iFLYblog.com.

[sc:Top-of-Post ]I don’t mean to mislead but I’m not talking about the annual get-together in Galesburg, IL or even the end of season gathering in Jennings or any dozens of other fly-ins where more than one Stearman would be in attendance.  No, I’m talking about the first time ever that a couple of us got together as a brand new group of people.  We’ve created something new.

 There are quite a few Stearmans in Texas.  Whether it’s the near year round flying weather or crop-dusters left over from years past that have been restored to their former glory or the fact that over 6 million people live in my metropolitan area alone…law of large numbers says there has to be a couple Stearmans around, right?  Well the law of large numbers also says that one day I’ll open up my dryer and all my laundry will be folded.  But I digress.

 There are a number of us in the area so we thought it would be handy to have all of us in one spot.  I equate a private Facebook group to an old school phone tree.  All of us in one place, electronically speaking, though we’re spread out across the great state of Texas.  The winter season didn’t lead to much flying, I really wanted to do a polar bear flight until I actually flew the aircraft when it was only 45º out and suddenly it didn’t seem like a good idea anymore.  But in February on a warmer day I accepted an invitation to an airpark south of Fort Worth where two Stearman owners and pilots make their nest and boom, three of us in one place with Stearmans.  I’m calling it!  Officially our first meet up!  We feasted on a meal of burgers from what could generously be described as a trailer the size of a fishing shanty but the cook is an honest to goodness CIA graduate and master chef.  (the other CIA, he’s not a spy).

 Couple things neat about having 3 Stearmans in one place – one Stearman is awesome, three is like, 10 times more awesome.  They’re all different.  People have different touches or things on the plane that no one else has.  It’s like attending a custom car show.  See a dozen 1931 Fords and they’re all unique.  One of my new friends keeps his exhaust shroud polished.  Looking at the state of my own I resolved to polish mine and a rainy week gave me that chance.  Honestly hadn’t crossed my mind until I saw Bob’s.  Everyone has their own idea for a GPS mount; some have kept wartime original touches that were lost in the conversion to duster and back.  We all have radios these days and how they are mounted and installed varies across all the aircraft.  I spend a lot of time working on my plane and sometimes you can lose sight of the forest for the trees.  What I mean is I look at my plane and see projects; clean this, fix that, replace that screw, polish this, oil change coming due, touch up paint, and the list goes on.  I look at the other aircraft and I see a whole Stearman in all its beauty.  Helps me appreciate my own I think.  We can share tips and tools and secrets, even the simplest things.  One guy asked my how I tow the plane and I showed him a photo, then he asked how well it worked with my tow rings on the gear being angled.  Angled?  No, they spin.  Mine are attached with castle nuts and a cotter pin to safety it but they aren’t super tight, they are loose enough to spin around so there are no weird loads on the towbar or landing gear.  His were installed with locking nuts tight and has been that way since restoration.  Easy fix for him and not a terribly big deal but only because we got together would that ever have been figured out!  Sometimes you just don’t think about these things.  Little things you take for granted or simply live with because that’s the way it is get brought to light in a gathering like this.  Like a tow ring or polished exhaust shroud.

 Hopefully as the season warms up we will be able to do some formation flying and get more burgers.  Rumor is he does the best breakfast burrito in Texas.  Maybe meet up and visit some grass strips nearby or show up en masse for a pancake breakfast fly-in and blow some minds when a bunch of warbirds rumble in.  In the end, like I’ve said before, it’s all about the people.  Whether it is Stearmans or Swifts we would find each other to socialize and become friends.  The airplane isn’t an excuse to go flying.  Who the heck needs an excuse to go flying?!?  We don’t bring the airplanes together, they bring us together.

[sc:Bottom-of-Post

The post My First Stearman Fly-in appeared first on iFLYblog.com.

Ready to Go

Ready to Go

Part of stewarding this big yellow bird means sharing it with folks.  Not because I have too, because I don’t, but because I want too.  It’s so much fun!  To share this airplane with someone makes it kinda new for me again, which I totally dig.  When the plane taxis past people stop and take notice, just like I always did when I saw one.  Now I’m in the cockpit and not observing from the ramp and it’s a neat place to be.  Brooks had seen the Stearman from the cheap seats and like every normal, healthy person, he loved it.  How could you not?  Brooks is one of our airport kids.  He’s a senior in high school and was spending this lovely November day polishing Matt’s Luscombe because he was taking his senior pictures with it.  Brooks wanted it bad or Matt put something in the water because polishing a Luscombe is not a job anyone volunteers for.

Nate & Brook

Nate & Brook

I took the airplane up just to practice some landings.  Why?  Because, Stearman.  Brooks was hard at work in the hangar with the polisher going and metal shining and rags everywhere and probably questioning his sanity and wondering why he thought this was a good idea.  I had a hunch I could make his day.  I taxied in after a half dozen landings and stopped in front of Matt’s hangar.  As I shut down I holler, “You got a headset?”  Of course he did, right there.  What airport kid doesn’t travel without a headset?  Brooks helps me turn the aircraft around and after a quick front hole checkout – stick, rudder, throttle, trim….uh that’s it, we start up and head to the runway.

I takeoff and turn downwind to depart the area and hand the plane over to Brooks.  He’s a newly minted private pilot and just completed his tailwheel signoff too.  We head northwest and circle a small town and subdivision and just fly.  I can’t wait to fly with him again, he was good; like, really good.  Great coordination with no instruction, the Stearman likes you to lead with rudder in the turns, kids a natural.  I have him head back to the field after 15 minutes, perfect time for a first ride I’ve found.  Turns out Brooks’ great-grandfather learned to fly in Stearmans in California before moving to the BT-13 and ultimately a B-24 over Europe.  He participated in the bombings in advance of the amphibious landing at Normandy on D-Day and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for his flying in the war.  That his great-grandson could fly the same aircraft he learned how to fly in 1942 is a testament not only to the airplane but to this country and the community of people who keep ‘em flying.

Enjoying the View

 Enjoying the View

I remember my first Stearman ride in 1994.  Took me 21 years to do it again but I’ll never forget that ride.  One line in the pilot’s logbook but one giant important memory in my whole lifetime.  I hope it’s the same for Brooks, and I hope we don’t have to wait 21 years to do it again; eh, I’ll have him checked out by fall.

-Nate Perlman

[sc:Bottom-of-Post

The post Brooks’ First Ride in my Stearman appeared first on iFLYblog.com.

“Don’t take financial advice from broke people.”  These words of wisdom echoed through my ear buds from one of my favorite podcasts.  This piece of advice is handed out regularly from financial guru Dave Ramsey to many of his listeners on his podcast and radio program.  When I first heard it, I agreed and decided the same advice can fit many situations regarding in any aspect of life.   Anyone wanting to expand their aviation horizons can certainly benefit from this truism.

I have enjoyed meeting people throughout my career.  One thing I really enjoy is listening to others who have much more experience than I have.  These friends are a true gift because they help me grow both as a person and a pilot.  Being trainable isn’t just for when we started flying or when we are pursuing another rating, it should be all the time.  Professionals agree that a good pilot is always learning.  One of the best and more rewarding ways to continue learning and growing is to seek out aviation mentors who are smarter than you in a field you are wishing to pursue.

Some of my most valued friends are those who have been kind enough to mentor me.  I have a couple mechanic friends who can help me with a “trick” or repair decision.  I have an aviation business friend who has been a huge help with accounting and marketing.  I am lucky to have friends who are flight instructors who have helped me with teaching tips.  This week I had the opportunity to learn from pilots much younger than myself with my ipad.

Matt and Budd

Currently I have 3 business jet type ratings, and just under 9,000 hours of total flying time.  Cool right?  No!  Resting on my own laurels will only perpetuate my stagnation.  There is still much more I can’t wait to experience.  This year I want to learn aerobatics, gliders, floats, and more about aviation maintenance and inspection.  I know that by always having an attitude of trainability, my friends and mentors can help me reach my goals.  Good mentors can be at your home airport or may require a little creativity.

Today with the internet and ease of travel, the aviation world has never been smaller.  A few months ago, I took my own advice to seek out those smarter than myself.  I traveled from my Ft Worth home out to Scottsdale, AZ.  There, I was able to live out a long time dream of learning the Pitts Special with legend Budd Davisson.  Along with appreciating decades of Budd’s aviation writing and photography, I’ve wanted to fly with him for years.  Budd literally wrote the book on the Pitts and has been teaching the Pitts for longer than I’ve been alive.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but regardless of the outcome, I knew that just the experience of flying with Budd would be worth it.  I wanted to learn from someone with more experience than I had so I could become a better pilot and instructor.

After 5 days of flying and 7.0 in my logbook, I learned a lot!  What I was most impressed with was not just flying the Pitts specifically, but great rules of thumb in precision flying that I can work on and hopefully pass on in my own instruction back home.  As I was trying to recount all the great tidbits of Budd’s training, I came across a list Budd already made available on his website, airbum.com.

Please read, enjoy, and imagine your next flight with the help of Budd’s tricks that I found so valuable:

http://www.airbum.com/articles/Article25Tips.html

As I have wrote in the past, one of the great things about aviation is people.  I encourage everyone to seek out those smarter than you.  Appreciate anything they’re willing to share.  Of course, the most important point is to take in this investment you were given and pass it along to someone else.  The wonderful stance of perspective in aviation is that there is always someone who has flown or knows more about a topic than you do.   Conversely YOU already have more experience and may know more about a topic in aviation that someone else hasn’t learned yet.  No matter where you are, you can share your experience with someone else.

Budd Pitts

People helping people, especially through mentorship, helps all of us in aviation that much more.  Find someone smarter than you and don’t take financial advice from broke people!

-Matthew Hood

[sc:Bottom-of-Post

The post Don’t take financial advice from broke people!  And why you need good mentors.   appeared first on iFLYblog.com.

The landing gear on the Stearman is big. Big oleo struts and tires with big springs and lots of hydraulic fluid. Every once in a while though these struts can stick and though I’ve seen some creative ways to measure if they work or not when you go flying it’s complicated and honestly, there’s an easier way – GoPro camera!

My left strut was sticking, I knew it. Couple ways to tell. Number one, when you do a steep turn or pull into a loop you hear a thunk as the tension lets go and the strut comes out against the stop. Another way is if you aren’t out pulling G’s that when you land you’re all crooked as one strut is extended in preparation for you arrival and the other is not. So when you touch down the airplane is banked to the side of the lower, sticking strut. Can get exciting in a crosswind. The cure for this is simple, loosen the nut.

At the bottom of the strut is a giant gland nut, like really big, that holds in all the guts. Hydraulic fluid, springs, everything. Too loose and it will leak all your fluid all over the hangar floor, too tight and it sticks like mine. Luckily I have upgraded seals in my landing gear so loosening the gland nut one safety hole shouldn’t cause any leaks. But how do I know if it’s fixed and working normally? I can make a smooth landing but not that smooth. Enter the GoPro camera. I clamped it to the mooring handle on the aft fuselage so I could see the gear clearly and on my test flight ended up with a pretty neat video. Win-win! Take a close look at the left strut, you’ll see it working normally just like the right one. Problem solved!

Volume up, cell phones off. Enjoy the film!

-Nate Perlman
stearman912@gmail.com
[sc:Before-Sponsor ]

[sc:Bottom-of-Post

The post Using The Tools You Have appeared first on iFLYblog.com.

What’s the deal with that prop?

What´s the deal with that prop?

You may remember when it took me forever to fly home I figured out the propeller was set to a climb setting, not a cruise setting.  Most props are fixed pitch or constant speed.  Either the blades are fixed and that’s what you get or you can adjust the pitch via a lever in the cockpit; climb setting for takeoff and cruise for, well, cruise.

There’s a third prop out there, not as common, and that’s the ground adjustable propeller.  You can adjust it to a climb or cruise setting but only on the ground and once it is set you have to put hands and tools on it to change it again.  Very simple really, instead of a lever in the cockpit my propeller control is two big wrenches, a torque wrench, machinist’s square, digital level, and some pliers.  Also a rubber mallet and some time, call it an hour.

This particular hunk of steel was crafted by the folks at McCauley for a couple different engines during the war, mostly found on Stearmans.  This prop had slipped in its clamps to a climb setting.  This meant I could get off the ground super quick but once in the air my speed was very limited.  I was about 10-15mph slower than I could be.  I had to measure the pitch of the blades and change it to a cruise setting;  for the McCauley they go by the pitch at the 42-inch station, that is 42 inches from the center of the hub.  Normally done on the bench at the prop shop you can do this on the aircraft.  The prop has to start out perfectly horizontal, hence the digital level.  You spend more time measuring your angles than you do anything else with this job.  Measure, bump the blades toward level, nope, tenth of a degree too far, bump back.  Once level take a reading off the one giant nut that holds the prop to the engine.  You compare that angle to the angle you measure on the blade at that 42-inch spot and subtract one from the other.  Boom, not-quite-instant blade angle measurement.

That’s only one of the blades though.  You have to swing the prop around, go through your leveling process again, find that 42-inch station again, and measure the other blade, then do your math, again.  They should be the same, or within a tenth of a degree of each other.  If not you probably have been complaining of a vibration for a long time because if they aren’t the same it can rattle your fillings loose.  If you need to make an adjustment you take your giant wrenches, loosen of the blade clamps, whack the blade with your rubber mallet with enough precision to effect a couple tenths of a degree change, then tighten your clamps, then do everything I said above again…twice.  There is nothing quick about this process.  Typically you have the prop shop set the pitch for you when it comes out of inspection then never touch it again.  Unless, like in my case, it has slipped and you want it right and you’re a little crazy.

McCauley Manual Cover

McCauley Manual Cover

To me it’s part of learning about this plane.  I enjoy messing around with this stuff and since it was set it hasn’t been touched.  The plane is a solid 10mph faster and if there was a hit to the takeoff performance I can’t tell.  So why mess with this prop that takes hours to adjust and has an inspection due every 100 hours and has a restriction between 1500 and 1650 rpm, lest you set up a harmonic vibration and toss the blades off the plane?  Because it’s probably the best prop for the plane.  It is finicky to get dialed in correct and running smooth but if you do it is superb.  The wood prop runs super smooth, but wood flexes and you lose a lot of climb performance.  The Hamilton Standard prop is a constant speed prop but the prop and governor add over 30lbs of weight.  Plus I don’t have a prop control in the cockpit so I’d have to add one, no thanks.  MT makes a composite prop for the plane but the cost is mind blowing.

I’d like to find a wood prop some day, just to see what it’s like.  The mounting nut is the same so it’s a quick swap between the two propellers.  I also have a second McCauley prop as a spare, because why have one when you can have two at twice the price?  Plus this limits my down time when inspection comes around every 100 hours, I can just swap them out and the running prop gets inspected and becomes the spare.  Another learning experience brought to you by Stearman.  When I bought the plane I knew nothing about this prop except it was big and metal and made the airplane go.  Now I’m an expert.  I love this stuff.

-Nate Perlman

[sc:Bottom-of-Post

The post What’s the deal with that prop? appeared first on iFLYblog.com.

[sc:Top-of-Post ]It took me longer to fly home than it did to drive up there.

Pretty much every pilot has made this joke when battling a strong headwind, slowing your progress.  It would have been quicker to drive!  Cars are passing us on the highway!  Usually it’s not true, it just serves to illustrate how slow you’re going.  Except in this case it was true.  It took me 7.5 hours to drive from Texas to Kansas City, and 8.1 hours to fly home.

The seller was kind enough to host me for the few days I was in Kansas City.  The ride to the airport that morning was very quiet.  I was thinking about my journey ahead, a long cross-country home in an old warbird I just bought, if I weren’t nervous that would have been a bad sign.  The seller was quiet I guess because while I was looking forward he was looking back.  The airplane had been with his family for 18 years since restoration and I was only the 6^th person to fly her.  I knew he was going to miss the plane but he also had a big red 450hp Stearman in a nearby hangar that would no doubt ease his pain.

Side by Side Stearmans

Side by Side Stearmans

Yes I had a headwind, but the weather was crystal clear with great visibility and blue skies and that’s not bad for July.  My biggest impediment was the propeller.  It was obvious now the prop was set for a climb setting, not a cruise setting.  I could take off quick but had to cruise slow, more on that another time, it’s pretty interesting stuff.

My new Stearman

Let´s Go

Heading south along the Kansas/Missouri border I learn more about the plane.  I can’t believe I bought this thing and now I’m flying it home, just like that.  I let her climb to 2800 feet.  I was shooting for 2500 but she seemed happier at 2800 so I let her be.  She’s been doing this flying thing way longer than me and since it’s a new relationship I let her have this one.   My first stop is Pittsburgh, Kansas.  Here I learn another lesson – you can’t just get gas in a Stearman.  Before I’m even out of the seat a gentleman rides up on a bicycle.  “I thought I heard a round engine go over head.”  We chat for a minute before the call of nature is stronger than staying to chat.  I get some help fueling the plane and pushing her into the shade of a nearby hangar.  I grab the crew car and head downtown for lunch.  Picture a quaint small town downtown and that’s where I was.  Belly up to the lunch counter at the diner (a lunch counter!  How cool!) for a grilled cheese and Coke and it’s back to the airport.  The winds have started cooperating at my intended fuel stop (no more crosswind) and I launch for Chandler, Oklahoma.

The flight to Oklahoma gives me another couple of hours to get to know this old girl.  I wiggle the stick and see the ailerons respond instantly.  Turn my head around and make the rudder dance left and right, this is neat.  The engine is running smooth as can be and it’s obvious she is happier when she flies a lot.  After I’m home I learn that sitting for a couple of weeks makes her pretty cranky.  Only cure is to go flying!  The view from the back seat is pretty limited when you want to see what’s in front of you.   Where you are and where you’ve been, good, where you’re going?  Not so much.  Every once in a while I make a gently turn to the left or right, just to take a snapshot of what’s out there.  Using ForeFlight on my iPad makes navigation a breeze.

What a View

Love an Open Cockpit

It was hot on the ground in Pittsburg, Kansas, over 90 degrees, but at 2800 feet (she really is happy there) it’s much cooler, and with the breeze of being in an open cockpit I was quite comfortable.  Seeing the world from an open cockpit biplane is visceral.  There is no window or windshield between you and the rest of the world and that, for whatever reason, makes everything appear even more real.  It’s like looking at the world in hi-def.

It’s even hotter in Chandler, and I’m tired.  Before I even get out of the plane I down a bottle of water.  I grab another from the baggage bin and a quart of oil for the engine.  Water is gone before the oil is poured and it’s time to fuel up.  I need to get back in the air where it’s cooler!  It doesn’t take long for admirers to show up.  A couple of mechanics from the local shop walk over and ask to take pictures.  We chat a bit; I answer questions about radial engines.  Anyone learning to be a mechanic these days will never lay their hands on one, which is a shame.  The winds are favorable at home too and getting into the evening hours it’s calming down.

I launch for north Texas.  I cross the Red River and know that I’m getting close.  Yes, my iPad and ForeFlight know exactly where I am and how far and how long to home but just look outside.  Big yellow wings, all four of them!  Carrying you over the Red River from Oklahoma into Texas, this is flying!  Having secured a hangar the month prior I had friends meeting me to help put the plane away.  She moves pretty easy on pavement when you’re by yourself but I had a patch of grass between the taxiway and the hangar.  I like it, a little yard for my hangar and it’s a shame if those tires don’t get some grass under them, but it was hell for putting the plane away without a tug.  I at home 11 hours after I left Kansas City, with 8.1 hours of flying to get home.  To think, this was just the start!

Safely Home

[sc:Bottom-of-Post

The post The Longer Flight Home appeared first on iFLYblog.com.

 Stan’s Swift

A little over a year and a half ago, my Wife and I moved to a new area.  After getting settled in our first house, I found a local airport.  After finding my new home airport, the first order of business was to get reacquainted with GA and get some tail wheel flying in.  Next I joined the Texas Antique Airplane Association.  Since that time, I have been exceedingly lucky for getting to know some truly great people.  Along the way, I have met flight instructors, mechanics, pilot shop owners, airplane restorers, and genuinely cool old dudes.

Mike’s C-180

Some are retired and are able to spend their extra time with their passion.  Others are working professionals hammering out their craft for their livelihood.  Some are weekend flyers escaping the office.  Some are still building their aviation resume looking forward to professional aviation.  The one theme with everyone is the understanding that aviation and its enthusiasts are special.

Blake and Monica’s RV-7

Why do I believe aviation people are special?  Lots of people drive cars.  Some golf, fish, or enjoy other hobbies. What I thinks makes aviation people different is the barriers of entry and exclusivity. I wish both were much less formidable.  From someone’s intro ride to that same person giving rides is a long journey.  Many start flight training and few finish.  Flight training is time consuming and expensive not to mention the numerous stressful checkrides.  Fortitude is required for the journey.  For the ones that make it through the hoops lies a fraternity.

Gene’s C-140

If you are considering aviation as a fun hobby or possible profession, I encourage you to  do so.  I have found aviation rewarding and have met life long friends along the way.  If you are already lucky enough to be involved with aviation, I encourage you to pass some of that fun you have had with someone else.  I know my life is better because other people made a decision to invest in mine.  Please join me in paying it forward for others this upcoming year.

Nate’s Stearman

Join or renew your membership with AOPA and EAA.  Give a ride to someone interested.  If you have the means, consider charity flying like Pilots n Paws or Angel Flights.  Whatever you do will be appreciated by someone else and is a great way to say thanks to the people that have added value to your life.

Tommy’s Little Toot

I wanted to take a second to show off some great airplanes I have been lucky enough to have been around and show them off for their owners.  Great people sharing their great airplanes.  That’s what aviation is all about.
2015 was great for my Wife and I.  I can’t wait for 2016!

-Matthew Hood
[sc:Before-Sponsor ]

[sc:Bottom-of-Post

The post Plane Good People appeared first on iFLYblog.com.

The aircraft is a taildragger so you have those attributes to contend with and the Stearman has a reputation that precedes it, and deservedly so.  Add to that the fact that this was going to be MY airplane.  These few hours of a checkout would (hopefully) allow me to get my airplane home safe and sound and I certainly want to make a good showing in front of the seller who is also teaching me how to fly this giant old biplane!  So, no stress right?

What’s it like getting checked out in a Stearman?

Like all Stearman students before me I start off in the front seat.  The rear seat is the captain’s chair.  You can’t see a thing in front of you when it’s on the ground (not that much in the air either) so when you taxi around you make s-turns on the taxiway.  You weave back and forth; going left you stick your head out the right side so you can see what’s out there, and vice-versa.  Lining up for takeoff you see none of the runway ahead of you.  You want to line up so you have equal runway appearing on both sides of you and after you turn onto the runway roll forward just a bit to make sure that tailwheel is straight, set yourself up for success!  Lots of right rudder when the power comes in and more as the tail comes up.  On my first several takeoffs I saw both sides of the runway clearly as I swerved back and forth, trying to find the sweet spot and not over control it.  Liftoff is at 60mph and let her accelerate just above the runway to 75mph and climb out.

We spent a little time flying around the practice area just to get the feel of her.  In the air she likes rudder in the turns but the controls are stable, not heavy, and certainly not light or touchy like some small planes.  But it’s back at the airport where things really matter, we need to do some practice takeoffs and landings, lots of them.  The Stearman is a big plane, with big wings.  It’s like flying a Cessna 182 but with a Cub wing on it.  Heavier plane but the slightest breeze will affect you, the slightest!  The center of gravity is high, all the fuel is in the top wing center section, and like all taildraggers the center of gravity is also behind the landing gear, and wants to be in front.  Put this together and on landing the aircraft will not tolerate any sideways drift.  If you get the center of gravity swinging to the side it’ll come around on you quick and you’ll get a 360-degree view of the airport, it’s called a ground loop.  The aircraft is also tall remember, so when you come in to land you have to remember “tall gear, tall gear” because your eyes are ten feet off the ground in the final moments before touchdown.  Thankfully the gear is huge with giant oleo struts to soak up student’s attempts at landings.  Even the tailwheel uses a strut and not springs like most taildraggers.  Everything about this aircraft is bigger.   But it was built for training day in and day out and hey, it’s a Boeing remember?

There is a ton you can learn about this plane and the way to fly it but we didn’t have that kind of time.  Our goal was to teach me how to land this plane so I can get home safely, the rest I could learn later.  The seller demonstrated the first landing for me.  80mph for an approach speed we arrive above the runway and wait.  Back pressure, more, more, more stick, more, wait, she’s not ready yet, and then, from about 5 feet in the air she stops flying (under 50mph at this point) and plops onto the runway.  No bounce, it’s just done flying.  Quick on the rudder pedals to keep her straight, jab and move, like a boxer, never still for even a second.  The upgraded brakes help us slowly quickly and safely and like that, it’s done.  Next it’s my turn.

We spend a few hours over a couple flights doing nothing but takeoffs and landings and the airplane and I get along famously.  I get the hang of things pretty quick and can tell when I do something wrong; that’s the benefit of 25 years in the cockpit.  I couldn’t imagine doing this as a kid out of a farm field having driven nothing but a tractor before and oh yeah, I’m going to war too.  I move to the back seat next and the seller shows me how to start the engine.  Radials are a different animal but there’s no trick to it and she barks to life on the 3^rdblade.  Still, first time I’ve started a radial, and that was darn neat.  I taxi around the ramp to get used to the even worse view before we fuel up head to the runway.

The sight picture is different than the front seat but I’m used to it in a couple landings.  The seller hops out on the taxiway, now I go solo.  This was definitely as nerve racking as my first solo.  I’m alone in a WWII warbird, an antique, a big biplane taildragger with a reputation of being difficult to land.  This is awesome, absolutely awesome.  As is customary I do 3 takeoffs and landings and it’s official, newest Stearman pilot in the world.  Plus we’ve finalized our deal and when we get back to his house we sign the paperwork.  Holy cow I just bought a Stearman, now to make the 450-mile trek home!

-Nate Perlman[sc:Before-Sponsor ]

The post What’s it Like Getting Checked Out in a Stearman? appeared first on iFLYblog.com.

Lloyd Stearman, born 1898, worked as an architect after WWI before becoming a mechanic at Laird Aircraft in 1919.  Laird sold the company to some of its employees in 1923 and became Swallow Aircraft Company with Stearman as its head engineer.  In 1924 Walter Beech left Swallow and took his head engineer with him.  Stearman and Beech partnered with Clyde Cessna and formed Travel Air.   Stearman wanted to be his own boss and left Travel Air in 1926 and started Stearman Aircraft Incorporated in California.  They moved to Wichita in 1927 and built a new plant becoming Stearman Aircraft Corporation of Wichita on September 27, 1927.  In August of 1929 Stearman was acquired by a giant corporation called United Aircraft and Transport Company.  They owned several airlines known as United Airlines and also built engines and propellers as well as Boeing, Hamilton, Sikorsky and Vought airplanes.  The depression caused United to move and shuffle a lot of its companies around and although Stearman Aircraft Corp stayed in Wichita, it’s founder left in 1932.

In 1934 the US Government ruled United a monopoly and forced it to separate the airline and manufacturing companies.  The Boeing Airplane Company left United and took Stearman Aircraft with it as a wholly owned subsidiary.  The Stearman Division became the Wichita Division in 1941 but in a great show of brand loyalty all the aircraft built by Boeing with “Boeing” stamped on their data plates and “Boeing” on the sales certificates were still called “Stearmans” by nearly everyone associated with them.

These wartime trainers were all Stearman Model 75 aircraft.  Based on the Model 70 designed in 1933 purely as a military trainer the first Model 75s appeared in 1936.  As war in Europe became inevitable orders for the aircraft piled up.  Produced continuously until 1945 a total of 8,416 Model 75s are built and enough parts left on the production line to build another 1,918 more.  President George H.W. Bush learned how to fly in one of these, almost every other pilot of the war too.

My Stearman shows an assembly date of July, 1942.  The military history of the aircraft says she was ordered in 1943 or 1944 though, and went to California in May of 1944 to start training pilots for the Army.  Many different variants of the Stearman were built for the Army and Navy with different engine combinations and requirements of each branch.  Mine was a PT-13D which wore a Lycoming radial engine making 225 horsepower, this model being the first to be jointly accepted by the Army and Navy.  They left the factory painted grey with both branches markings on them and whichever branch got the plane would just paint over the other’s markings.  The Navy would eventually paint the airplane all yellow like the rest of their Stearmans.

She bounced around California to different training schools until the end of the war, then went to Arizona for a couple years then Utah where she was sold as surplus in 1949.  After that the aircraft changed hands several times, becoming a crop duster in Florida in the 1950s.  When the Stearman was used as a crop duster, the front seat was removed and the hopper installed there.  The stock engine was also removed and replaced with a 450hp Pratt and Whitney.  Big and loud she burned a lot of gas but had the power to haul pilot and chemicals into the air all season.   She traveled the east coast changing owners between Florida and Virginia.  She stopped in Texas in the 1990s before being restored to her current state and moving to Missouri, which is where I met her.  Today the aircraft is done up like an N2S-3.  A Navy trainer designation she now wears a Continental engine making 220hp and a metal prop by McCauley as old as she is.  The green band on the wings and fuselage means it is an instrument trainer, though the Navy only used that green band early in the war, changing it to red later.

With a history as rich and vast as the Stearman I’m proud to take my turn.  I hope to share this aircraft and her history with as many people as I can.    

-Nate Perlman

The post If It Ain’t Boeing, I Ain’t Going appeared first on iFLYblog.com.