World War 2 In Review: PT-27

U.S. Navy Stearman NS-1 primary trainers (9684, 9683) of the NAS Pensacola Flight School, 1936.

The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is an American biplane formerly used as a military trainer aircraft, of which at least 10,626 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 United States Army Air Forces, the United States Navy (as the NS and N2S), and with the Royal Canadian Air Force as the Kaydet throughout World War II. After the conflict was over, thousands of surplus aircraft were sold on the civilian market. In the immediate postwar years, they became popular as crop dusters and sports planes, and for aerobatic and wing walking use in air shows.

USAAC/USAAF Designations

The U.S. Army Air Forces Model 75 Kaydet had three different designations, PT-13, PT-17 and PT-18, depending on which type of radial engine was installed.

PT-13: Initial production version with Lycoming R-680-B4B engine, 26 built in 1936.

        PT-13A Model A75 with R-680-7 engine, 92 delivered from 1937 to 1938.
        PT-13B R-680-11 engine, 255 delivered from 1939 to 1941.
        PT-13C Six PT-13Bs modified for instrument flying.
        PT-13D Model E75 with R-680-17 engine, 793 delivered

PT-17: Version with Continental R-670-5 engine, 2,942 delivered.

        PT-17A 136 PT-17s modified with blind-flying instrumentation.
        PT-17B Three PT-17s modified with agricultural spraying equipment for pest control near army bases.
        PT-17C Single PT-17 conversion with standardized Army-Navy equipment.

PT-18: Version with Jacobs R-755-7 engine, 150 built. Further production was cancelled as the engines were needed for other types of trainers.

        PT-18A Six PT-18s modified with blind-flying instrumentation.

PT-27: USAAF paperwork designation given to 300 D75N1/PT-17 aircraft supplied under Lend-Lease to the Royal Canadian Air Force. The last example built, FK108, had a canopy installed.

US Navy Designations

NS: Up to 61 Model 73B1 delivered, powered by 220 hp (160 kW) Wright J-5/R-790 Whirlwind radials.

N2S: Known colloquially as the "Yellow Peril" from its overall yellow paint scheme.

        N2S-1 Model A75N1 with Continental R-670-14 engine, 250 delivered.
        N2S-2 Model B75 with Lycoming R-680-8 engine, 125 delivered in 1941.
        N2S-3 Model B75N1 with Continental R-670-4 engine, 1,875 delivered.
        N2S-4 Model A75N1 with Continental R-670-4 and -5 engines, 457 delivered of 579 ordered, including 99 PT-17s diverted from U.S. Army orders.
        N2S-5 Model E75 with Lycoming R-680-17 engine, 1,450 delivered.

Sailor cranking the engine of a Boeing-Stearman N2S-2 Kaydet (3553) at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1943.

Stearman PT-17, US Army Air Corps.

Boeing-Stearman PT-17 Kaydet (42-16408) USAAF.

Boeing-Stearman PT-17 Kaydet (41-25202), USAAF.

Boeing-Stearman Model 75.

Fueling a Boeing-Stearman Model 75.

Naval Aircraft Factory N2S primary trainers at the Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas, August 1942.

U.S. Navy Parachute Rigger 3rd Class Lorna Peterson, USNR(W), climbs out of the after cockpit of a Boeing-Stearman N2S training plane, following an orientation flight at Naval Air Station Ottumwa, Iowa, circa 1944-45. The pilot was Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Keith W. Sharer, USNR, a flight instructor at the station.

Boeing-Stearman N2S Kaydets at Corpus Christi, Texas.

U.S. Navy Boeing-Stearman N2S Kaydet used at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, as an ambulance for rescue work as a result of crashes in inaccessible regions of Texas adjacent to the training station, 1942.

Boeing-Stearman N2S-3 Kaydet (BuNo 43579).

Stearman PT-27 (NC56259), a beautiful clean surplus plane, Hayward, California, March 1946. The Boeing-Stearman PT-27 was the designation for 300 Model 75 primary trainers produced to go to Canada under Lend-Lease. In Canada the PT-27 was officially called the 'Kaydet'. Canada was the only place where this was the type's official name, but it was also adopted elsewhere. The PT-27 was a two seat single-bay biplane. The fuselage was built around a welded steel tube framework, the wings around a wooden framework, both fabric covered. It had a fixed undercarriage with single faired legs. The PT-27 was powered by the Continental R-670-R engine, and was similar to the USAAF's PT-17, but adapted for use in winter weather. They were delivered between February and October 1942. Some of the Canadian aircraft were given cockpit canopies, cockpit heating, full blind flying instruments and a hood for instrument flying.