Wicked Old Birds Present Unique Flying Experience

There's nothing like the charismatic blend of vice, virtue, and vintage aircraft.

Friday, February 07, 2025 at 09:00 AM ET

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Instructor Joe Soligoy captured this image of Sam Weigel enjoying the fun of open-cockpit flying in a Stearman. [Courtesy: Sam Weigel and Joe Soligoy]

Key Takeaways:

The author's experience with the 1943 Boeing-Stearman highlights its intentionally difficult landing characteristics, designed to challenge and weed out less capable WWII pilot trainees.
Flying vintage aircraft, despite their ergonomic flaws and demanding nature, provides essential challenges that help the author, a modern airline pilot, maintain and sharpen fundamental "stick-and-rudder" skills.
The author embraces the "vices" and imperfections of old airplanes, valuing them for the commitment, honesty, and humility they demand, ultimately making him a better, more complete pilot.

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Over the last few weeks, I’ve been lucky enough to take several instructional flights in a 1943 Boeing-Stearman Model 75 (U.S. Navy designation N2S-3 Kaydet). This is my first formal training in anything of the biplane, open-cockpit, radial-engine, or warbird varieties, and it’s been a very interesting experience.

As World War II warbirds go, the Stearman is simple in the extreme, and there are no great procedural challenges to mastering the airplane. In the air, it is basically a big J-3 Cub, and as I have about a hundred hours in that venerable type, the control feel and response is comfortably familiar. Maneuvers and stalls are a joy, and takes all of about 10 minutes to learn well for anyone used to older ships with a lot of adverse yaw.