Each day, the team at Aircraft For Sale picks an airplane that catches our attention because it is unique, represents a good deal, or has other interesting qualities. You can read Aircraft For Sale: Today’s Top Pick at FLYINGMag.com daily.
Today’s Top Pick is a 1943 Boeing/Stearman B75N1.
The Stearman Model 75 biplane is a classic that seems to gain popularity with each passing year. The military versions, known as the PT-13, PT-17, and PT-18, depending on whether they had a Lycoming, Continental, or Jacobs engine, taught the bulk of new military cadets how to fly before they moved on to a more complex monoplane trainer like the Vultee BT-13 Valiant.
Today, many general aviation pilots take far more hours learning to fly these machines than the military trainees were allotted. However, people familiar with the Stearman will tell you it is easy to fly and still makes an ideal trainer, especially for pilots interested in eventually flying higher-performance tailwheel aircraft like AT-6s, fighters, and other warbirds.
Flying a Stearman is also an utter joy, judging from the 15 minutes or so of stick time I received in a friend’s airplane in 2013. Looking down through the bracing of its bright yellow wings at the green forests of southeastern New York was an experience I will always treasure. I would like to repeat it someday, for a much longer flight.
This 1943 Stearman has 4,287 hours on the airframe and five hours on its Lycoming R680-B4E radial engine and 418 hours on the propeller since overhaul. The VFR panel includes a Garmin GTX 327 transponder, GTR 225 radio, and uAvionix SkyBeacon ADS-B.
Other equipment and features include Redline brakes, Skytronics 24-volt, 50-amp alternator, Air Repair landing gear seal kit, Russ tailwheel kit, Airwolf oil filter, and Auto Fuel STC.
Pilots who want a taste—or perhaps just a hint—of what young cadets in World War II went through while learning to fly should consider this 1943 Boeing/Stearman B75N1. This type would have been the first aircraft many of those aspiring pilots had ever touched, and it is available for $139,900 on AircraftForSale.
You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.
- FLYING Magazine: Restoration Nation: The Stearman Next Door
- FLYING Magazine: Ageless Aviation Fleet of Stearmans Expands to Honor More Midwestern Military Veterans
- FLYING Magazine: Taking Wing: Stearman Patrol
- The Aviation Consumer: Off The Beaten Path: Vintage Aircraft
- AVweb: Buying The Old Ones: Homework Mandatory
