Stearman
# 104
by Howard Alexander
Stearman
serial number 104 was actually the third aircraft that Stearman built in
1927.
The Stearman that was serial number 103 had to wait for a
different type engine so it became the fourth aircraft built by this
company.
Stearman
number 103 was purchased by Varney Airlines which was operating between
Spokane
and
Pasco
(Varney
eventually became part of United Airlines).
Varney wanted the Wright Whirlwind J-4 Radial engine rated at 200
horsepower.
They
were more expensive than and not as easy to get as the Hispano-Suiza
(Hisso) V-8 water cooled engine rated at 180 horsepower and this caused
the variation described above. Throughout
the aviation community, the engine is referred to as a Hisso and many
probably would not recognize the full name.
Stearman aircraft were used by
Varney Airlines and many other airlines of that time including, Western
Air Express, National Air Transport, Texas Air Transport, Interstate
Airlines, National Park Airways and Continental Airlines.
Boeing eventually bought out
Stearman and produced the Boeing Stearman which was the primary trainer
for the Army Air Corps during WWII.
Many Boeing Stearman aircraft were used extensively as Air show
aircraft and aerial application aircraft for agriculture during the post
war era.
Skeeter Carlson found the
Stearman in a scrap pile at
Coeur d’ Alene Jr.
College
in 1950. He was able to
rescue the aircraft and the Hisso engine and bring them to
Spokane
where it took him seven years to restore.
When he first restored the aircraft, he placed the same markings
on it that the Varney Airlines number 103 had originally.
Serial number 103 was lost in 1937 when it crashed in a wooded
area close to
Spokane
.
Skeeter restored the aircraft
with the Hisso engine but also made it easy to convert and install a
Wright Whirlwind J-4 so that it resembled the one used by Varney
Airlines. Skeeter still has
the Hisso and the J-4 but has installed a more modern Continental 220
horsepower engine for greater reliability.
Skeeter later replaced the fabric
on the Stearman and this time he painted it in the colors of National
Park Airways as they flew Stearman aircraft between
Salt Lake City
and
Great Falls
,
Montana
.
The aircraft is now going through
another extensive restoration by Larry Tobin of
Spokane
. The aircraft will be flown
in several key aviation anniversary celebrations and will eventually be
displayed in the
Armed Forces & Aerospace
Museum
at
Spokane
International
Airport
. The Hisso engine will
either be installed in the aircraft for display or will be on and engine
display stand next to the aircraft.
Also see progress of Pemberton
and Sons' Boeing
Model 40 under
construction at Spokane's Felts Field Airport.
Pemberton and Sons Aviation has
two Boeing 40 transport aircraft, one of which is a Boeing 40C and the
other, a Boeing 40B-4. The link above is to reconstruction photos of the
Boeing 40C aircraft from 1928, the year in which it was manufactured and
the year that it crashed. This airplane was operated by Pacific Air
Transport, and is currently under restoration.
Read about the crash
of Boeing 40C, 5339, here.
E-mail,
mailing and web addresses:
Contact: Armed Forces
and Aerospace Museum
5813 E 4th Avenue, Spokane Valley , WA 99212-0308
http://www.armedforces-aerospacemus.org
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