Stearman project

[Harvey]

I've been restoring this 1942 Stearman N2S-3 (the Navy's version of the venerable Army PT-17) since 1997. I brought it home in boxes and thought I'd have it flying within a couple of years. (Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha,gasp, cough, cough, cough...). What you see in the pictures is about 50% original and 50% replacement (most of which was handmade). My desire was to maintain its original appearance but with a few subtle upgrades. The main improvement is a Jacobs R755 275hp engine and Ham-Standard 2B20 constant speed prop (firewall forward from a 1951 Cessna 195) to replace the original 225hp Continental and wood prop. (She crop-dusted with a 600hp Pratt & Whitney after the war.) Other noteworthy improvements are a complete electrical system (lights, radios, electric starter), redline disc brakes, and smoke system (it IS a biplane after all!)

It should be finished "soon".

Harvey

 

[stevecmo]

Wow Harvey, now that what I call a project! Very nice work. Thanks for sharing. We'll be looking for future updates.

Steve

 

[Harvey]

I was adding this picture of the Jacobs engine to the original post when my editing capabilities timed out.

 

[Harvey]

I'm especially proud of the electrical control box (4th picture down in the original post). Only the last version of the airplane included an electrical system and mine wasn't one. So, unless my wife was willing to learn how to handprop an aircraft engine (which she was most assuredly wasn't!!!), I needed to install an electric starter, a battery to power the starter, and an engine-mounted alternator to charge the battery. Since all of this was being added to the airplane, I might as well add lights. (Running out of daylight while still an hour from home field can be a major inconvenience). And what the heck, might as well use some of that new electricity to power a radio and transponder. (Do ya see how this stuff snowballs???)

Anyway, since the electrical system is new to this plane, I had to come up with a control box that was functional but looked like it belonged. I don't know why but most Stearman restorations that include a new electrical system have a half-assed switch and breaker panel that doesn't fit in with the otherwise-fine restoration job. I needed desperately to avoid that! The box that you see in the picture was entirely designed, fabricated, installed, and wired by me. I even added the Boeing logo in the bottom left corner to suggest authenticity (but for anyone who thinks I'm BS-ing them, I added "HLH 2003" in the bottom right corner; my initials and the year that I designed the box).

The small box (marked "Interphone") under the electrical box is the jack box for the pilot's headset and controls the plane's intercom system (also my design). There's a matching jack box in the front seat for the passenger's headset.

Similar to the electrical box, I installed the radios to the lower rear of the front seat (the rear seat is the pilot's seat) in a special-built case that mimics the originally installed Map Case. This new radio case is shown in the sixth picture of the original post.

Can you tell that I'm proud of how it's all turning out??? )

Harvey

 

[twstoerzinger]

Great looking restoration Harvey.
You are proving the old saying that airplane builds/rebuilds are always 90% complete and 50% to go.
What do you figure that "shaky Jake" will add to the cruise speed over to original 225?
Terry S.

 

[xalky]

Hell....I'd be proud too! What an awesome project, and a bit ambitious too, I might add. I can't wait to see this plane all buttoned up and flying.

 

[FanMan]

Nice!

I used to rent a Stearman back in the late 1970s for the princely sum of $50/hour wet (when a C-150 was $15). As a broke (is there any other kind?) college student I couldn't do it as often as I wanted. Yours looks a lot nicer than the beat up one I flew!



That's me in the blue shirt, with the suave instructor who was teaching me aerobatics. I was a lot skinnier back then...

 

[Terrywerm]

Very nice, Harvey. I have long been a fan of flight, and especially of biplanes, but have never had the time or money to pursue it in earnest. Keep up the great work and please be sure to continue to share your project with us!

 

[Harvey]

What do you figure that "shaky Jake" will add to the cruise speed over to original 225?
Terry S.

Terry,

I doubt that it'll add much to the top speed, if anything at all. (All the drag of two wings and all of the interbracing wires will be unchanged.) But the extra horsepower and constant speed prop will give a shorter take off run and better climb rate.

Harvey

 

[n3480h]

Wow Harvey, that's beautiful work. Please keep us updated as progress continues.

Tom