Boeing Stearman
PT-17 "Kaydet"
The Stearman Aircraft Company, formed by Lloyd Stearman in 1927,
was bought out by Boeing Airplane Company in 1939. (Hmmmmm..
Just before the war..??)
In 1933 the Stearman company began design and construction of
a new training biplane, derived from the earlier Stearman model
C; built as a private venture, this was first flown in December
1933 and, designated originally as the Stearman X-70, was submitted
as a contender in 1934 to meet a US Air Corps requirements for
a new primary trainer.
The first service to show positive interest in this aircraft was
the US Navy which, in early 1935.. These, however, received a
different powerplant from that installed originally, primarily
because the US Navy had a lot of 225-hp Wright J-5 radial engines
in storage which were specified for installation in this initial
order, the company changing the model number of these aircraft
to Model 73. The X-70 supplied for US Army evaluation was subjected
to protracted testing and eventually, in early 1936, the USAAC
contracted for the supply of 26 aircraft under the designation
PT-13 (Primary Trainer, 13). These, powered by 215-hp Lycoming
R-680-5 engines, were the first of the Stearman Model 75 series.
This cautious approach by the US Army should not be considered
as a reflection upon the capability of the new trainer. The truth
of the matter was that at that period the USAAC had little money
to spend on new aircraft: not only had this service to be as certain
as possible that it was procuring the best available, but even
then was only able to procure small quantities. Soon, however,
the fortunes of war were to bring Boeing contracts for thousands
of the Stearman-designed trainers. The name Kaydet, bestowed later
by Canada, and adopted generally in reference to these aircraft,
was unofficial except in Canada.
This attractive two-seat biplane was of mixed construction, the
single-bay wings being basically of wood with fabric covering,
the remainder of welded steel tube with mostly fabric covering.
Landing gear was of non-retractable tail-wheel type, the divided
cantilever main units having cleanly faired oleo-spring shock
absorbers. The powerplant varied considerably throughout a production
run which lasted until early 1945, and during which well over
10,000 examples were built.
For the first time both the US Army and US Navy had a common model
in 1942, basically the PT-13A airframe with a Lycoming 8-680-17
engine, and these had the respective designations PT-13D and N2S-5.
These were the last major production variants for the US forces,
the US Army receiving 318 and the US Navy 1,450. A shortage of
engines in 1940-1 had, however, produced two other designations:
PT-18 and PT-18A.
The designation PT-27 applied to 300 aircraft procured by the
US Army for supply under Lend-Lease to the Royal Canadian Air
Force. A small number of these, and of the N25-Ss supplied to
the US Navy, had cockpit canopies, cockpit heating, full blind-flying
instrumentation and a hood for instrument training.
In North America the Stearman Kaydet retains an aura of nostalgia
which Britts equate with such aircraft as the Avro
504 and Tutor, and de
Havilland Tiger Moth, or Germans with the Bucker trainers.
When declared surplus at the war's end many served with the air
forces of other nations, and large numbers were converted for
use as cropdusters. Many remain in operation in this latter role,
and the Kaydet is undoubtedly a collector's piece.
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Specifications:
Crew: 1 Neophyte &
1 Nervous Trainer
Engine: One 220-hp
Continental R-670-5
piston radial engine
Wt: Empty 1,936 lbs.
Max T.O.wt:2,717 lbs.
Wing Span: 32ft. 2in.
Length: 24ft. 3in.
Height: 9ft. 2in.
Performance:
Max Speed: 124 mph
Ceiling: 11,200 ft.
Range: 505 miles
Armament: None |
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Purchase Information
$5.95
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This Stearman Kaydet
cardmodel comes in two sizes and about 10 versions
Back to Trainers
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The large version of the ARMY Boeing Stearman is
shown above. It come in two sizes and several versions..At release,
there was a Navy, Army and BW version.. Please note that the proper
spelling of this airplane is " Stearman". If you're sharp
eyed you might see it spelled as 'Steerman'. Please no emails. This
is to help the search engines find our Stearman even if the seeker
spells it wrong.
  
These are pages one some of the additional
versions that are included in the Stearman folder- Credit
given on the versions with appreciation to the guys who
sent them in.. |
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This version (all three sheets) thanks to
Niki Schutt |
  
This is the up-from-Mexico smuggling version
of the Stearman PT-17 Kaydet thanks to Yoteman |
  
Here's our Barbie version...Lawyers please
email
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Thanks to Modeln' Pal, Dick Doll, for these
great photos of his Stearman Kaydet.. "Here our some
setups of the model--wish I could of got them to you sooner.
Just shot them about an hour ago. I got the one in the air
by holding the plane by the tail with a tweezers and shooting
it against the sky with my other hand. {My wife wasn't around
to help] Dick D |
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 Thanks
for the Stearman, always one of my favorites. While still
not completely accurate, I have made a couple of really
simple additions to make that "up front" engine
look a little busier.
Two small pieces of gray (could have been black or silver)
wire from each cylinder head to the crankcase to represent
the pushrod housings. Small piece if white styrene tubing
on each cylinder to represent the plug and a piece of black
wire to each spark plug. Took all of about ten minutes and
makes the engine look more like an engine.
Thanks again, great model. Cheers, Bob Santos |
A real easy way to get a few colored Stearmans
is to get a pack of colored cardstock at Wal-Mart and have
at it.. Thanks to Bob Penikas |
I, long ago, flew a PT 17 that was being
used a civilian instruction plane here in Texas at Clover
Field . It was in colors very much like your grey Navy version...
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It, however, had a nine cylinder Pratt and Whittney in it.
It also had moon type wheel covers. I changed a few things
around on your kit and am recoloring it to look like that
plane. Here are pictures of my first attempt at this. I've
been waiting for awhile for this model and am enjoying it.
Thank You, Burke Miller |
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What people say...
I remember this one with fond memories!! As a birthday present,
I got a metal model of this Stearman Kaydet (US Army version)
when I was,, oh,, probably about 7. chip
Good job guys getting this out!! Looking good
and nice price. Best of success with this Glenv (the designer)
Oh man, you did a good one here. I've always
thought that if I would ever buy a real 'warbird' this would
be the one. I had a friend if Phoenix when I lived there,
Mike Clarke. Mike owned two of these and a L-4 and we use
to go up flying around Saguaro Lake buzzing the sail boats
in his Stearman's!! He sold them to buy a P-51D which he quickly
crashed out near Prescott in about 1975;-( Anyway, thanks
for the great model, hasta, Anthony Golden, Co
Thanks Chip!...The Stearman was great!!!!!!!!Ken
Chip, I think you've made a triple home run
with this one.......now, if we could find someone that could
make the crop duster version .....the front cockpit was covered
over and a spray tank was installed there.....plus the nose
was shortened just a tad and a 450 HP Pratt & Whitney
was installed in place of the Lycomings....another neat version
would be to add the cowling over the Pratt and add wheel pants...that
would be the aerobatic version....can you not see the nice
young lady standing on the top wing during a loop? I can see
this one growing and growing! Thank you for all the great
innovation and excitement! Are you on the way back to Arizona?
Duck of Flanders Fields.....
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The Stearman Aircraft Company was established by Lloyd Stearman
at Venice, California in 1926, but was soon relocated to Wichita,
Kansas. It eventually became a division of Boeing Aircraft and
was contracted to build training planes for the military, based
on a design by Stearman known as the Army's YPT-9. In the meantime,
Stearman, himself, had gone back to California to serve as president
of Lockheed while designers at Boeing/Wichita, working under the
direction of chief engineer Harold Zipp, continued to make modifications
and develop newer versions that resulted in the prototype of the
familiar biplanes that we knew in World War IT. Although these
were actually Boeing designs known as the type 73 and the type
75, the original name somehow stuck with them over the years and
they continued to be known as "Stearmans.
The design was unique in that it met the specifications for both
the Army and Navy. It was a simple, rugged machine that could
withstand a thrashing at the hands of student pilots and it was
easy to maintain and repair.
Early versions of the N2S were all yellow while the Army's PT-types
were blue and yellow. Both of them had the old style insignia
with the red ball in the center of each star but the red centers
were discontinued in 1942. The old Army PTs also had red-and-white
stripes with a vertical blue band on their rudders, but these,
too, were discontinued at the same time. In 1944, the type 75
was completely standardized for both the Army and Navy and the
color scheme for both services by then was overall silver with
the later star-and-tab insignia.
After the war, many surplus Stearmans were outfitted with more
powerful engines and adapted for a variety of commercial uses.
Nowadays, many of the remaining Stearmans are being restored to
their original configurations with a noticeable preference for
the original pre-1942 Army or Navy colors and markings
The Stearman P27 Story
During the early part of the War in Europe, the U.S. participated
in the Lend-Lease Program to avoid being seen as an aggressive
power before we were officially involved. Part of this Program
was the requirement that the U.S. military initially purchase
the lend items with their funding and then loan them to
the receiving government, rather than allowing the receiver
to purchase directly from the manufacturer (direct arms
dealing). This PT-27 was a result of this confusing system.
There were 300 examples and they were all delivered to the
Canadian Government. They were basically stock PT-1 7's
with a canopy installed, and other minor items that comprised
a winterization kit; as they were not identical to the PT-17,
they were given the PT-27 designation. Since the airplanes
were owned on paper by the U.S.Army, they still had to have
a USAAC designation even though the type never was used
by the US Army..
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 More
about the life after WWII..
After, the war, thousands of Stearmans, as the type was universally
known, came on to the civil market. Some were used for aerobatic competitions
and many were converted to be crop sprayers, then a relatively new
and very dangerous way of making a living as a pilot. Crop-dusting
called for a better performance than the Stearman, when converted
with crop-spraying bars and hoppers, had with the standard engine.
Many were re-engined at low cost with brand-new war-surplus R-985
Wasp junior radials of 450hp - twice the original power. Flying at
about 5ft above the crops, the pilots needed good control response
and good all-round vision because any obstruction over about 6ft was
potentially fatal. The Stearman had good control response but not
good all-round vision; however, they were cheap and plentiful. One
Stearman, registered G-AROY, was seen in the late 1940s in the UK
giving demonstrations of crop spraying. Many remain; most of the surviving
crop-dusters have been converted back to the original Second World
War P-17 state, as they are now collectors' items. They fly, restored
to the gleaming blue fuselage and yellow wings with white ARMY or
NAVY emblazoned on them, as in their days of glory.
American and British pilots earning their
wings in the prairie states..
This quite large biplane was the trainer on which nearly all American,
and thousands of RAF and Fleet Air Arm, pilots gained their wings
during the war years. It was the most widely used Allied initial
trainer. After a UK 'grade school', flying DH Tiger Moths, which
removed aspiring RAF pilots who were unlikely to make it, the remainder
were sent overseas to complete the wings course, many to flying
schools in the midwestern United States. The reason was simply that
under wartime restrictions, bad weather and a crowded airspace in
the UK. the wide open prairies of the United States offered unbroken
training. The Kaydet was built in huge numbers: there were 10,346
total when production was halted in 1945. It was an ideal trainer,
easy to fly but difficult to fly well, showing up piloting errors
vividly. For a trainer it had a powerful engine, typically an uncowled
220hp Continental R-670-5 radial driving a fixed-pitch two-bladed
propeller. The performance was good; maximum speed was 125mph, with
landing at 56mph. The biplane handled delightfully and was fully
aerobatic.
 
Dick and Bobby Doll getting close up to aviation..
"The attached photos aren't of any model but I thought
I'd show you two of the Stearman. The first is me in one
in Sonoma around '87, the other is one of our grandsons
standing with a Kadet at an airfield in Pennsylvania."
Dick
Thanks for the posting of the Stearman pictures.
Can't wait for our grandson to see it, he's now 20! Dick
D |
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Dennis Brooks sends in this valuable (right)
Douglas three view signed by Jack Douglas' wife.
" Dennis.. This is the basic trainer of the WASPS- thought
you might like a copy.. Fern Douglas"
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