Gary^The^Procrastinator
Stearman PT-17 Kaydet Diorama, Take-Off
Flight training in Stearmans at Randolph Field, San Antonio Texas, in 1943. One student has successfully taken-off and is happily on his way. The other student was not so skilled in his take-off procedures and fell to a common fate: the “ground wheel” followed by “departing the prepared surface”, followed by too-heavy breaking and lastly, the dreaded “nose-over.” He has failed his ride and his instructor is furious...but not as furious as the ground crew who has to recover the aircraft and fix it!
The “Kaydet”, Stearman Model 75, is a 2-seat military trainer built in the USA from the mid-1930‘s through early ‘40s as an initial flight trainer for pilots heading off to WWII. Widely known as the “Stearman”, over 9800 were built of all model types and thousands are still flying today in airshows and as “warbirds”. It’s also one of the most featured biplane aircraft in movies. The aircraft is configured so that the student with full instrumentation sits in front, and their instructor in back with duplicate flight controls.
The Army Air Corps used the nomenclature “PT” for primary trainer. The PT-17 version had a Continental R-670-5 power plant, with a horsepower varying from 210 to 240 at 2,200 rpm. Pilots nicknamed it, “The Washing Machine,” as it washed-out many students from the program. The US Navy version was all-yellow and is known as the N2S.
I have had the pleasure of a 30 minute ride in one and the instructor let me fly for 15 minutes at cruising altitude. It’s beautiful to handle, and the open cockpit is the most enjoyable way to fly!
Stearman PT-17 Kaydet Diorama, Take-Off
Flight training in Stearmans at Randolph Field, San Antonio Texas, in 1943. One student has successfully taken-off and is happily on his way. The other student was not so skilled in his take-off procedures and fell to a common fate: the “ground wheel” followed by “departing the prepared surface”, followed by too-heavy breaking and lastly, the dreaded “nose-over.” He has failed his ride and his instructor is furious...but not as furious as the ground crew who has to recover the aircraft and fix it!
The “Kaydet”, Stearman Model 75, is a 2-seat military trainer built in the USA from the mid-1930‘s through early ‘40s as an initial flight trainer for pilots heading off to WWII. Widely known as the “Stearman”, over 9800 were built of all model types and thousands are still flying today in airshows and as “warbirds”. It’s also one of the most featured biplane aircraft in movies. The aircraft is configured so that the student with full instrumentation sits in front, and their instructor in back with duplicate flight controls.
The Army Air Corps used the nomenclature “PT” for primary trainer. The PT-17 version had a Continental R-670-5 power plant, with a horsepower varying from 210 to 240 at 2,200 rpm. Pilots nicknamed it, “The Washing Machine,” as it washed-out many students from the program. The US Navy version was all-yellow and is known as the N2S.
I have had the pleasure of a 30 minute ride in one and the instructor let me fly for 15 minutes at cruising altitude. It’s beautiful to handle, and the open cockpit is the most enjoyable way to fly!