I used to work with Dr. Robert Stearman at Dugway Proving Ground. He was one of the Research scientists working Chemical defense projects in the 1984, and had been at Dugway since the 60s. He was a brilliant guy, and held dual PhDs in Chemical and Mechanical Engineering. One day, I was in his office discussing a research project, and noticed a photo of A very young Robert Stearman and another person standing in front of the polished metal propeller of an early Stearman Bipe. I casually mentioned it was a “neat” he’d found a plane with his name on it to pose with. He was a character, and exclaimed “you’ve got it backwards, that’s a photo of my name on a plane”. I thought he was being funny, until He then explained the Stearman Aircraft Company was founded by his older brother, Lloyd, and that was Lloyd and him standing in front of a Stearman in 1930. I’ve always wanted to build one of these in memory of him, although by the time the Kaydet arrived, Stearman Aircraft had been bought by several companies. He told lots of stories of the development of this aircraft, and how it “won” WWII, training 90% of US pilots, across all services, and a good number of commonwealth pilots. Prior and during WWII, he’d actually worked as a consulting mechanical engineer for Boeing on the Kaydet. But the family always had trouble with the fact the family name had sold out to Boeing in the 30s. I’m Looking forward to this kit. Hopefully it’s affordable (for me anyway).
VR, Russ