1942 Stearman PT-17

The “Stearman” biplane is almost synonymous with World War II pilot training.  Actually a Boeing product it was designed by a team of engineers at Stearman as a modification to original designs requested by the Navy beginning in 1933.  That original design, the Model 70, was in turn based on a design by the legendary Lloyd Stearman from a couple of years earlier.  As the Navy, and then the Army Air Corps, refined their needs and specifications several trainers eventually evolved.  The model owned by Rob Lock, on display at the Caldwell Collection, is an N2S, constructed in 1942.  In total nearly 11,000 of these aircraft were built to support the pilot training effort and a number of the Army Air Corps versions were known to have been used at Mustang Field. 

 

#204 features a Continental W670 engine and Navy flight training striping.  The “Stearman” biplane was designed to be rugged, take a lot of abuse and have easy repairability.   After the war many of these aircraft survived as agricultural crop dusters and spray planes.  A venerable institution itself Chickasha based Dusters and Sprayers, Inc. arose to make parts for these ag planes insuring their survival to now.

 

Rob’s plane is special In that his father Bob Lock owned and restored it.  Robert Lock was a well-known, California based, aircraft restorer and aviation instructor.  A prolific writer Bob’s articles are still regularly featured in the Vintage Aircraft Association magazine.