The Boeing Stearman

The pictures with this post are of my mother and a Boeing Stearman biplane. They were taken in the late 1940s, after WW II and before she met my father. A friend of her’s owned the plane and gave her a ride in it. These two pictures are just a sample from the amazing photo album, that my dad and brother, Chris, have assembled for her service. The following paragraph is a synopsis on the Stearman via Wiki.

The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is a biplane used as a military trainer aircraft, of which at least 9,783 were built-in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934. Widely known as the Stearman, Boeing Stearman or Kaydet, it served as a primary trainer for the USAAF, as a basic trainer for the USN (as the NS & N2S), and with the RCAF as the Kaydet throughout World War II. After the conflict was over, thousands of surplus aircraft were sold on the civil market. In the immediate post-war years they became popular as crop dusters and as sports planes.

Mom’s funeral is on Monday, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow, for any description of that event. Sunday, was a quiet, family day. Chris, Frank, Kathy, Tristan, Anne and I drove to Carmel-by-the-Sea for breakfast. Dad didn’t want to come. We went to Katy’s Place, a greasy spoon, once frequented by Charles Kuralt. Afterwards, we walked around Carmel for an hour, before returning home. Chris took a nice photo of the Carmel fire station, but I’m going to save that for later.

2 thoughts on “The Boeing Stearman

  1. somewhat unbelievably we were very close to each other on Saturday! I was as far south as Pescadero. and ended up a bit north of there in Montara watching seals ‘pupping’ on the beach!

  2. Your mom was a beautiful person, and it sounds like she’d had a wonderful life! I am loving your accounts of her various adventures!

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