Bowman Field Stearman
The original plan of building an aircraft just from parts (as opposed to starting with a complete airplane) was very intimidating and I didn't do much with the Stearman project for a year so.
In September of 2019 I flew our cub to a pancake breakfast in Maine at Bowman Field and noticed a wrecked Stearman sitting behind a hangar. I asked around and found that it was for sale so I made arrangements for Linda and me to drive up and take a closer look. Purchasing a complete, but wrecked, airplane was appealing because I would be pretty much guaranteed to have all the parts for my build and it would also serve as a physical example of the construction rather than having to work only off of drawings.
This airplane experienced a forced landing into pine trees after a suspected case of carburetor icing in 2009. No one was hurt, but the fuselage was bent and all four wings were severely damaged. Here is a link to the NTSB report. The engine and propeller were also damaged.
This Stearman is a PT-17, which is the Army version and it originally came equipped with a Continental R-670 engine.. At the time of the accident it had a Lycoming R-680 installed.
Linda and I made an offer that was accepted and all of a sudden I had to find room for another airplane and make arrangements to get it from Maine to New Hampshire (about a 3 hour drive).
A neighbor offered his truck and flatbed trailer to haul the airframe and I took my pickup and trailer to retrieve the wings, tail surfaces and other extra parts. We winched the Stearman up onto the trailer, tied it down and headed south.
Back in New Hampshire, the airplane was unloaded using a fork lift and I towed it through the neighborhood to our house.
Once I removed the center section, I was able to squeeze the airplane into our garage next to the '32 Ford. The wings were stored in the garage too.
In September of 2019 I flew our cub to a pancake breakfast in Maine at Bowman Field and noticed a wrecked Stearman sitting behind a hangar. I asked around and found that it was for sale so I made arrangements for Linda and me to drive up and take a closer look. Purchasing a complete, but wrecked, airplane was appealing because I would be pretty much guaranteed to have all the parts for my build and it would also serve as a physical example of the construction rather than having to work only off of drawings.
This airplane experienced a forced landing into pine trees after a suspected case of carburetor icing in 2009. No one was hurt, but the fuselage was bent and all four wings were severely damaged. Here is a link to the NTSB report. The engine and propeller were also damaged.
This Stearman is a PT-17, which is the Army version and it originally came equipped with a Continental R-670 engine.. At the time of the accident it had a Lycoming R-680 installed.
Linda and I made an offer that was accepted and all of a sudden I had to find room for another airplane and make arrangements to get it from Maine to New Hampshire (about a 3 hour drive).
A neighbor offered his truck and flatbed trailer to haul the airframe and I took my pickup and trailer to retrieve the wings, tail surfaces and other extra parts. We winched the Stearman up onto the trailer, tied it down and headed south.
Back in New Hampshire, the airplane was unloaded using a fork lift and I towed it through the neighborhood to our house.
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| Neighbor Nick was PIC for the taxi home. |
Once I removed the center section, I was able to squeeze the airplane into our garage next to the '32 Ford. The wings were stored in the garage too.
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