Alaskan YL-15s

[JBoyle]

I was looking through Airliners.net and saw a 1990 photo of a semi-derelict YL-15 on floats at Anchorage.

Anyone know its status...or anything about the other ex-USFS YL-15s?
The only thing I've ever heard is one was parted out and someone used the flaps (or entire wing) for a STOL homebuilt.

One was offered in the 90s in Trade-A-Plane.
I sent a letter (no phone # was given) but never heard anything back.

[Tulio]

IIRC, wasn't this the one that is stored in Anoka, MN?


Saludos,


Tulio

[Holedigger]

Was this the one (as seen over at Airliners), that one is serial # 47-432, N4770C, and it's airworthy status is in question according to FAA?

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Boeing-Y ... eb0dcc75dd

[jet1]

that I saw that a couple (1-2) years ago on Ebay. I called and talked with them but they wanted WAY more than I was willing to pay. I don't know if its the same plane or not but the one I called on was partially disassembled

[Jack Cook]

Sam Richardson was looking at 2 or 3 in Alaska a few years ago.
He never made the deal so maybe hitting the cow with his SeaBee got him focused in other directions?

[Cking]

Why did Boeing get involved with a "Puddle jumper" like that?
I thought Billy Boeing only built BIG aeroplanes.

Rgds Cking

[JBoyle]

Was this the one (as seen over at Airliners), that one is serial # 47-432, N4770C, and it's airworthy status is in question according to FAA?

Yes, that's the plane I was referring to.


As to why Boeing built the plane....remember it was post war, they were looking for business. IIRC, it was designed before the KC-97 and B-47 production took up most of its time.

I have hunch they would have built any production models in Wichita at the ex-Stearman facility.

I don't have my book handy, so I don't know if it was built for the competition finally won by the L-19/O-1...which won after the Army lifted a very tight weight requirement (suited more towards a "new" L-4-type).

[marine air]

As a kid , I used to have a Stearman book that listed all the Stearman types built. It had the YL-15 in the postwar activity of what was the Stearman division of Boeing. My book was loaned and not returned, unfortunatley.
My "guess", is that maybe it was designed and built at the Stearman factory and was hoped to be a success once the PT-17 production ended.

Another thought, why wouldn't the military just use the L-4's and L-5's they had in abundance? Well, after WW II, two major new types of military aviation were in their infancy, Rotary wing, and Search and Rescue operations. So the military had mixed success with the early helicopters that were having a lot of accidents, and were of limited utility.
They started requesting designs that fill in the gap between fixed and rotary wing operations plus fill the role of rotary wing if needed.
Thus, the ultra-stol desings like the Boeing YL-15, COnvair L-13, and that Northrop tri-motored transport. The weird stuff ran it's course once the helicopter designs got up to speed.