I’ve been watching the restoration of this Stearman Model 40C mail plane for a few years now via the regular update on the internet. Just two days ago, it took flight once again.

This is the oldest Stearman flying in the world. It is also much bigger than it would appear in the photos. the only thing that might give a hint to it’s size is the fact that the little windows in the fuselage are for the passenger compartment ! Yes, in addition to 750 lbs of mail, this plane was also designed to carry 4 passengers. You might ask - if the passengers are inside the plane, why is the pilot still outside. The truth is that the wisdom of the time was a pilot could not fly an airplane if he could not feel the wind and environment surrounding him.

If you have high speed internet, check out the videos !

Update:
I read a funny statistic over at NORDO News. First the serious one - the restoration took 18,000 hours ! Now the funny one - the restoration took 416 hanger meals with an average of 9 place settings, requiring 7,400 paper plates, 104 gallons of tomato sauce and 1000 bread rolls.

Related tangests ...   Wishful thinking ...   Have you ever seen a condensation trail like this ?   Requesting fly-by ... Negative. The pattern is full.

Posted in Airplanes, Stearman |

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