Air Power Series>1:48 die-cast display model>Stearman PT-17>HA8106

General Background

The Stearman Aircraft Company produced a bi-plane trainer-aircraft called the Model 70. In 1935 the USN ordered the Model 70 with a Wright J-5 Whirlwind engine designated the NS-1. Boeing Aircraft Company bought Stearman and gave the Model 70 a Lycoming R-680-5 radial engine making it a Model 75. In 1936 the U.S. Army Air Corps placed an order for the Model 75 and designated it PT-13. With a Continental R-670-5 engine it became the PT-17. The RCAF labeled it PT-27 Kaydet with Kaydet becoming the universally accepted name.

The Aircraft

Kaydet 18303 spent most of 1944 and 1945 based at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Kaydet served as a basic trainer aircraft and played a part in the history of the African American men known as the "Tuskegee Airmen". These men were part of an experiment to prove to a racially biased white America that black men had the ability to learn to fly combat aircraft and earn their pilot wings. If they passed basic training they went on to a more advanced aircraft.

Specifications :

Crew:	2 x Student Pilot and Instructor
PT-17 Produced:	3,500 +
Number of all variants produced:	10,000 +
Performance	1 x Continental R-670-5 7 cylinder radial engine producing 220 hp
Maximum Speed:	124 mph
Climb Rate:	840 ft/min
Service Ceiling:	11,200 ft
Range:	505 miles
Dimensions
Length:	24 ft 3 in
Wingspan:	32 ft 2 in
Height:	9 ft 2 in
Weights:
Empty:	1,936 lbs
Maxium Takeoff:	2,717 lbs