1941 BOEING STEARMAN N2S-3, CONTINENTAL W670 7 CYLINDER RADIAL ENGINE, WW2 BASIC TRAINER
The Boeing Stearman Story - The Boeing-Stearman Model 75, often called the "Stearman" or "Kaydet," is a biplane that became the primary military trainer for U.S. and Canadian pilots in the 1930s and 1940s, with over 10,600 built. It was rugged and forgiving, making it ideal for training novice aviators, and after WWII, thousands were sold to civilians for roles like crop dusting and aerobatics. Its story is one of a critical military trainer that found a second life as a beloved civilian aircraft.
The Story of “Albert” - Our Stearman - Built in April 1941, this Stearman was accepted in to the US Navy as a Primary Trainer on 26th April 194. Based at Jacksonville, Florida, then at Glenview, Illinois, and used to teach Navy pilots to fly, before being released from the Navy in April 1946 after the war.
POST WAR
USA - The aircraft was sold to a private owner, Mr Albert Luff, in May 1946 for $382. In June 1949 it was sold to Aerial Flight Control and converted to a liquid Crop Sprayer, doing this work for about 5 years.
Mexico - In April 1954 it went to Mexico as one of seven Stearman crop sprayers taken there by Francisco Ochoa, and remained there working hard for some 37 years.
USA - In February 1991 it was imported back to the USA and restored by Norman Corsaut over a period of 4 years.
UK - In 1995 Bob Jones imported it to the UK, and it remains based now with us at Compton Abbas.
Interesting Notes:
# The Stearman is named “Albert”, remembering the first private owner.
# The observant among you will have noticed that the words “US ARMY” written underneath the wing is backwards – YMRA SU. This was sometimes used by disgruntled Army recruits expressing their feelings as “Yes My Retarded Ass Signed Up” – Norman was ex-Army.