Flying history
Wind in their hair, pair pilots World War II biplane cross country
By DONNA FREEDMAN
Anchorage Daily News
Published: June 20, 2006
Last Modified: June 20, 2006 at 02:49 AM
Phil Ramstad and Carl Lind have more than a century of flying experience between them, but neither one had flown anything like the Boeing-Stearman PT-17, a 1930s-era open-cockpit biplane.
They had plenty of time to savor the experience: Their trip took nine days and covered 3,800 miles.
Ramstad, 68, and Lind, 70, left Greenville, S.C., on June 9 and landed at Lake Hood on Sunday, making 23 pit stops along the way because the plane's fuel tank is so small (46 gallons) that it could go only a few hours without a refill.
The journey was a favor to Ramstad's son, an Anchorage physician who bought the plane and needed someone to fly it north. Ramstad called it a trip of a lifetime, since few pilots have the opportunity to fly vintage aircraft.
With Lind in the front and Ramstad in the rear seat of the tandem cockpit, the Stearman flew at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,000 feet. Technically, the plane could have gone as high as 11,000 feet. But that would have been a little too brisk, said Lind, who is accustomed to flying a Cessna 180 with a cabin heater.
At 2,000 feet, the temperature dropped to about 48 degrees, making the pilots grateful for their Carhartts. The wind rushing by made unaided conversation impossible, so they communicated with an intercom and headsets.
There wasn't much to talk about, however, since the trip was textbook-perfect: no high winds, no hailstorms, no mechanical problems. The Stearman is "prone to ground loop or nose over if mishandled by inexperienced students," according to the National Air and Space Museum Web site, but both Lind and Ramstad are experienced.
Aficionados refer to this plane as a Stearman, the name of the original manufacturing company, which was later bought by Boeing. It is also called a Kaydet.
The biplane rose to fame during World War II because the military used it as the main training aircraft, according to the aviation museum's Web site. World War II vets remember the plane, judging by the reception the flyboys got at those fuel stops.
"There was a crowd everywhere we landed," Ramstad said.
The bright-yellow biplane is getting attention at Lake Hood too. People driving by slow way, way down to get a better look. It's a little over 24 feet long from the tip of its seven-cylinder radial engine to its tail and has a 32-foot wingspan. The open cockpit is likely what's causing the double takes, since they're rarely seen outside museums these days.
After the war, Stearmans were used for crop dusting and for aerobatic flying. In the 1960s, they became hot collector's items, according to the aviation museum, which terms the Stearman "one of the most highly regarded antique aircraft." It's estimated that 1,000 or so are still airworthy.
The Stearman does not have much power, Lind noted. They flew at an average speed of 77 mph.
"There's nothing sophisticated about it," he said. "But I liked flying a piece of history."
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Reporter Donna Freedman can be reached at
dfreedman@adn.com.
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Boeing-Stearman PT-17 Kaydet
• Fuel tank capacity: 46 gallons, about two to three hours of flying time
• Speed: Maximum, 124 mph; on average this trip, 77 mph
• Weight: Empty, 1,936 pounds; maximum takeoff, 2,717 pounds
• Engine: One 220-horsepower Continental R-670-5 piston radial engine
• Number manufactured: 10,000-plus (during World War II, more were built than any other biplane in history)
• Number still in use: 1,000-plus
Source: National Air and Space Museum; warbirdalley.com; interviews
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Reminds me of Stephen Coonts & The Cannibal Queen!
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