Photo: Platinum Fighters
The age of the biplanes is long gone. With a few exceptions, one hardly gets to see them flying anymore, even at air shows, the places where humans generally celebrate all things airborne. With so little interest in these old engineering marvels, and despite the fact that airplanes in general are much more expensive than cars, it’s no wonder biplanes sell for less than the price of a new Corvette.
Flying in a biplane the likes of the 1943 Boeing Stearman we have here must be much more exhilarating than driving a mid-engine Corvette down the strip, however. After all, this is a nearly eight decades old machine whose last inspection took place in 2014.
Boeing’s Stearman was introduced in 1934, the same year the Stearman Aircraft company became part of Boeing. It was used ever since its introduction as a military trainer, being deployed in the service of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force.
By the time it was retired, the Boeing Stearman 75 family comprised close to 11,000 members, and that meant they spread far beyond the borders of the two North American countries, reaching most of the nations in South America, but also Iran, Greece, or Yugoslavia.
Having trained pilots during the war, the Stearmans got released into the civilian wild once hostilities ended, and were relegated mostly to crop-dusting duties.
We don’t have the operational history of this particular biplane. It is one of the A75N1 variety (PT-17), the kind that was originally fitted with blind-flying instrumentation and later agricultural spraying equipment.
Total time since new on this particular one is 2,290 hours, and according to the seller on Platinum Fighters, some paint and fabric might be needed here and there. As said, the asking price for this one is lower than for a Corvette, $50,000, but no mention of its airworthiness is made.
Boeing’s Stearman was introduced in 1934, the same year the Stearman Aircraft company became part of Boeing. It was used ever since its introduction as a military trainer, being deployed in the service of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force.
By the time it was retired, the Boeing Stearman 75 family comprised close to 11,000 members, and that meant they spread far beyond the borders of the two North American countries, reaching most of the nations in South America, but also Iran, Greece, or Yugoslavia.
Having trained pilots during the war, the Stearmans got released into the civilian wild once hostilities ended, and were relegated mostly to crop-dusting duties.
We don’t have the operational history of this particular biplane. It is one of the A75N1 variety (PT-17), the kind that was originally fitted with blind-flying instrumentation and later agricultural spraying equipment.
Total time since new on this particular one is 2,290 hours, and according to the seller on Platinum Fighters, some paint and fabric might be needed here and there. As said, the asking price for this one is lower than for a Corvette, $50,000, but no mention of its airworthiness is made.
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