Brooke,
About a month ago I went up ,here is my story.
FLYING PT-17 Stearman
I am an old WWW2 cadet of Army Air Corp. (not Force) who was taught to fly the bye wing open cockpit by civilian instructors. Remember the stall, spin, up side down, slip, loop, engine shut off, clime, glide, elementary 8, and don’t forget the chandelles. Instructor saidâ€give me a Channnndelleâ€. Now 60 years later friends from church (Kelly & David Havrilla) have a friend Chris who owns a Stearman PT-17 and asked if I would like a ride. Yes I said and my mind started working, Remember wearing fatigues running out to the plane, strapping on a parachute jumping on wing, bouncing in rear cockpit, a civilian young girl starts cranking the engine, you turn the little switch and “off we go into the wild blue yonder†NOW that was 60 years ago. Yester-day we went to the Ann Arbor airfield to meet, Chris and a beautiful Blue and Yellow, white PT-17 plane. I walk slowly out and raise one leg up to the wing and dave pushes the rest of the body up on the wing. Grab the two handles, act like I am chinning my-self but really trying to get this body in the open cockpit. Once in the cockpit, Chris put the helmet and radio on my head. Kelly hooks the safety straps on me. Chris starts the engine and “off we go into the wild blue yonder. Once up a few thousand feet and Chris spoke the sweets words “ Art we will not do any acrobatics to-day, take over the controls. Turn left, that is easy that is the hand the watch is on. Now Chris said he would take over and land.. Then the tower comes on and said to go around again, some-body is on the runway. I thought must be Kelly, she wants to go up too. Kelly’s father owned a plane and she took lessons for pilot license. And Dave’s parents had a house next to Hartung Air field where I received my pilot license. The PT-17 is a nice little plane and it has fixed landing wheels. The AT-6 has retractable wheels and flaps. I know a cadet who on takes off dropped the flaps instead of raising the wheels, but that is another story.
papa