Stearman Aircraft

Stearman Aircraft Corporation was an aircraft manufacturer in Wichita, Kansas. Although the company designed a range of other aircraft, it is most known for producing the Model 75, which is commonly known simply as the "Stearman" or "Boeing Stearman".

Stearman Aircraft
IndustryAerospace
FateBought by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation
Founded1927 (1927)
FounderLloyd Stearman
Parent
Stearman 4-D mailplane of 1931 in markings of Western Air Express
Boeing/Stearman N2S Kaydet at NAS Corpus Christi

History

Lloyd Stearman established the Stearman Aircraft Corporation in 1927. Initially, the company was founded as Stearman Aircraft Corporation in October 1926 at Venice, California, where four C1 and C2 biplanes were built before production halted for financial reasons. On 27 September 1927 a new Stearman Aircraft Corporation was founded.[1] The factory was then established in Wichita, Kansas with financing of Walter Innes where the new model Stearman C3 and Stearman 4 Speedmail were constructed.[2] Two years later, he sold it to the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation.

In September 1934, antitrust legislation forced United to separate its airline and aircraft manufacturing operations. At this time, Boeing, which had been part of United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, became a separate business once again, and Stearman was made a subsidiary of it. Stearman officially ceased to operate as a brand then, but about the same time the Stearman plant created its most successful and enduring product, the Model 75 "Kaydet". The Kaydet would become the primary trainer aircraft for the United States military during World War II.

In 2005, Boeing sold the civil portion of the former Stearman operations to Onex, forming Spirit AeroSystems, although they have retained the military operations.

Aircraft
Model name First flight Number built Type
Stearman M-2 Speedmail 1929 7 Single engine biplane mail plane
Stearman C1 1927 1 Single engine commercial biplane
Stearman C2 1927 4 Single engine commercial biplane
Stearman C3 1927 179 Single engine commercial biplane
Stearman Model 4 1930 41 Single engine commercial biplane
Stearman Model 6 Cloudboy 1931 7 Single engine biplane trainer
Stearman Model 70 1 Prototype single engine biplane trainer
Stearman Model 71
Stearman Model 73 78
Stearman Model 75 Single engine biplane trainer
Stearman Model 76 78 Export version of the Model 75
Stearman Model 80 1
Stearman Model 81 1 Single engine biplane floatplane trainer
Stearman Model 85 1938 1 Single engine biplane observation floatplane
Stearman X-90 1940 1 Single engine monoplane basic trainer
Stearman X-91 Re-engined X-90
Stearman X-100 1938 1 Twin engine monoplane attack airplane

References

Notes
  1. Donald M. Pattillo. A History in the Making: 80 Turbulent Years in the American General Aviation Industry. p. 9.
  2. Simpson 2001, pp. 520–521

Bibliography
  • Boeing Company. Pedigree of Champions: Boeing Since 1916, Third Edition. Seattle, WA: The Boeing Company, 1969.
  • Bowers, Peter M. Boeing aircraft since 1916. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1989. ISBN 0-85177-804-6.
  • Simpson, Rod. Airlife's World Aircraft. London: Airlife Publishing Ltd. 2001. ISBN 1-84037-115-3.

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