Stearman N2S

My Dad, F /O James F. Dunigan soloed in a Strearman PT-17 at Bennettsville S.C. He was in Class 44-G. He ended up flying B-29's at Roswell, N.M.

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I was a student at horns flying school 1950 I flew the Stearman. It was great putting on a show over Cleavland. Thaks to Don Hine.

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Saw one recently at Stellenbosch (South Africa) airfield recently. Maroon in colour and wow,what an amazing growl from the engine. Absolutely super to see!!

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My experience with the N2S goes back to Livermore NAS 1944 with movie star Robert Taylor as instructor. He could fly beautiful 8 pt. slow rolls, I was 26, he was 33. Later, I flew Corsairs, but the Stearman will always be my favorite. Wind in the face, cloth helmet, goggles and the echoing advice of "never unlock the tail wheel until you'e slowed way down." The ground was like a magnet to an N2S wingtip!

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As a Navy Cadet in early 1943 at Minneapolis, MN the yellow peril was a big machine for this farm boy, just out of high school. Doing slow rolls at night was interesting, discovered star light and farmstead yard lights appeared very much alike. The Navy flew in three Corsairs, kept them in a enclosed fence for us to look at. I dreamed of flying one of them. Months later my dream came true.

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It was the happiest day of my life at the time, when I soloed in the U.S. Navy aircraft trainer the Stearman N2S-5. We called it the "Yellow Peril" because it would ground loop so easily. It happen at NAS Memphis I was 19 yrs. old. Later the Navy checked me out in it for inverted spins.

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I was at NAS, Corpus Christi, in 1946 when there was an N2S overhaul line in the A & R there. After the first test flight, they were flown by fighter pilots returning from overseas to become instructors. I was not a Navy pilot, but I had recently soloed in a Piper Cub and the pilots wanted someone to practice on, so I could get rides. The tail-dragger N2S, with narrow-tread landing gear, could easily ground loop, just like the Helio Courier in later years. But I did make a few landings without ground looping. We did some aerobatics, including an inverted spin. I did not know how to lower the seat into the cockpit and I could not even see the airplane as I whirled around in space, pressing hard against the seat belt. It was an exciting airplane. People sometimes called it the "Yellow Peril," but it wasn't. That airplane waa the N3N, a similarly looking airplane manufactured by the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia. It was more difficult to fly, but I don't know the specifics.

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I took my Primary in the Stearman in Dos Palos, CA, Class 44G in 1944. I liked doing snap rolls and reverse spins. I became a B-29 pilot but I never enjoyed flying anything as much as I did flying the Stearman

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I own two Stearman aircraft, one that I'm flying presently and one that I'm restoring. The airplane is not only a wonderful flying machine and still a very effective trainer, but it's an easy airplane to maintain and is a masterpiece of mechanical engineering. Boeing and Stearman built first class airplanes - even seventy years later.

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Pat Patterson taught me to fly the PT-17 in the fall of 1943 at the Primary Flying School in Camden, SC. Memories of the thrill of open cockpit flying remains with me 67 years later. One of our training goals was to make a dead stick landing with touch down within a 10ft circle without ground looping. I became a B-17 pilot out of class 44D.

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Did my primary training in this bird at the Tex Rankin Aeronautical Academy, Tulare, CA. back in 1943. Got to ride with Tex one time. Real thrill. My one and only experience with open cockpit. Nothing quite like it.

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Nostalgia! How well I remember my Primary training at Thunderbird II in Scotsdale, AZ. My instructor was Ray F. Newton, an old time pilot who had flown about everything airworthy. Snap rolls, spins, slow rolls, landings - the PT-17 was probably the safest aircraft ever built, in fact it would not go into a spin until they had to add a small spoiler on the leading edge of the lower wing. That was the happiest part of my pilot carrier!

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I flew the P-17 in primary school located in Avon Park Fla..
My instructor was a former circus pilot named Jock Hunter. We had an extended period in primary at Lakeland Fla.. The Air Force had too many pilots so they washed out about 50% of our class 45-B. I was lucky and eventually got my wings and commission as a fighter pilot. Dick Allen

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I first flew this plane as a Navy Cadet in 1943 in Minneapolis, MN. It is a winner in every way. Easy on the controls and ready for whatever maneuver you wanted including spins, loops and even inverted spins. I once had the fun of flying one from Oletha,KS to Fort Lauderdale, FL in a three plane VFR ferrying event. What a great way to see this wonderful country from about 5000 feet.

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The Stearman is to the American military what the Tiger Moth is to the Air Forces of the British Commonwealth -the primary trainer that "did it all".

I have flown them both -and am partial to the Tiger -but I hasten to admit that I am biased! I have owned a Tiger Moth since 1968 -and my father flew THAT airplane in 1942 before I was born!

In car terms the Tiger is a Jaguar while the Stearman is a Cadillac. Both will get you there -and both have advantages -but one person will prefer one and another -another!

Both trained tens of thousands of WW2 pilots -and have provided great pleasure to many postwar pilots and passengers.

The debate over which is superior is never-ending!

Whatever...thank heavens we had them both!

Jock Williams Yogi 13

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One of my favorite planes to fly. in 1942 at NAS Hutchinson KN as a Naval Aviation Cadet. Loads of fun, checked out of "D" Stage by Naval Lt.Wayne Morse, a well known movie star of the time. Had about 105 hours in the old "Yellow Peril"

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After training in PBY's, I was sent to Huchison, KS. The first order of business was to go to Wichita and get a plane back. It was a real adventure going to a sports car from a truck! We both got back in acceptable shape, and become friends!

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My primary trainer at Camden, South Carolina in 1941.I recall an instructor pulling the prop by hand rather than using the hand crank to start the engine with me in the cockpit at an auxillary field after monitoring some touch and go landings. You got good grades if you did not ground loop this aircraft.In late 1942 I gave evaluation flights to pilots seeking Service Pilot ratings while on duty at Jackson, Tennessee.

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I hope you have time to get printed information on all the A /C you have listed.

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There was a similar aircraft, the N3N, manufactured by the Naval Aircraft Factory located in the Navy Yard at Philadelphia

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