The Venerable Stearman Kaydet
[color=#000000]The Stearman Model 75 is a biplane, built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s as a military trainer aircraft. There were at least 9,783 built. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934. Widely known as the Stearman, Boeing Stearman or Kaydet, it served as a primary trainer for the USAAF, as a basic trainer for the USN (as the NS & N2S), and with the RCAF as the Kaydet throughout World War II. Thousands of surplus aircraft were sold on the civil market after the war was over. They became popular as crop dusters and sports planes during the post war years.
Thousands of PT-17 Stearmans were auctioned off to civilians and former pilots. Many were modified for cropdusting use, with a hopper for pesticide or fertilizer fitted in place of the front cockpit. Additional equipment included pumps, spray bars, and nozzles mounted below the lower wings. A popular approved modification to increase the maximum takeoff weight and climb performance involved fitting a larger Pratt & Whitney
R-985 engine and a constant speed propeller.
A considerable number of Stearmans remain in flying condition throughout the world, as the type remains a popular sport plane and warbird.
The model pictured is a repaint I did of David Eckert's Stearman Kaydet available here:
http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/perlf ... q=stearman
Links to David's original model, both FS9 & FSX,
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