Boeing Stearman PT-17

THE FAMOUS BOEING STEARMAN N2S/ PT-13/PT-17
PRIMARY TRAINER OF WWII

If you were a young man and wanted to fly combat in WWII chances were good that, after being accepted into flight training as a cadet, you would receive your first flight instruction in a Boeing Stearman primary training aircraft.

If you volunteered for Naval Aviator you would most likely begin with the N2S or PT-13D primary flight trainer. If you volunteered for Army Air Corps you would most likely begin with the PT-17 primary flight trainer.

The famous Stearman primary flight training biplane was manufactured by the Boeing Airplane Company in Wichita, Kansas from 1938-1945. Some 8,500 aircraft were manufactured, along with another 2,000 equivalent aircraft in spare parts for both the Army Air Corps and the Navy.

Each cadet would receive 65 hours of dual and solo instruction in only 10 weeks at a civilian operated primary flight training base located somewhere in the United States. The U.S even trained future combat pilots from England and China. The Boeing "Kaydet" was the Army Air Corp trainer while the Navy called the airplane the "Yellow Peril" due to its inherent nasty ground handling. Whatever it was called, the Stearman certainly produced some great pilots.

Now there is a chance to relive the experience of primary flight training again with a 30-minute training mission in this most famous aircraft.

The original US Army Stearman "Kaydet" was the PT-13 with the 220 Lycoming R-680 engine. In 1940, to avoid a shortage of Lycoming’s, the Army specified an alternate engine, the 220 Continental R-670. This resulted in a change of airplane designation to PT-17. Waldo Wright’s Flying Service operates two original Army Air Corp PT-17s. Our Stearman's have full flight controls in both cockpits and headsets with intercoms so you can talk throughout your flight.