over 6 feet 10 inches tall, and is a natural instructor and
obstruction for Sarah’s forward visibility. Rob wanted to
instill in Sarah that the best way to learn to fly a Stearman is
by feel and by listening to the sounds the flying wires make
in the wings when speed is either increased or decreased.
That didn’t
stop Sarah from
pleading with Rob
to “please move
your head down
so I can see!” Rob
would ignore
the request and
proceed to place
both of his hands
straight up in the
air, thereby further
blocking her side vision. The rigorous training continued
as Sarah became more comfortable on grass and then on
hard surface. Rob then suggested that the only true way
Sarah was going to learn how to master the big biplane was
to take it somewhere and live with it as you travel cross-country. So that’s exactly what they did when they flew
Blu from Florida to Iowa to hook up with fellow antique
aviators on the National Air Tour reunion.
“That trip was exactly what I needed,” said Sarah. “I
remember thinking I was stepping back in time, and I
kind of felt like a barnstormer, lounging under the wing
of my airplane and visiting small little airports around
“Before I knew it, I was
strapping myself into
the front seat ... as my
newfound friend was in the
back pushing the throttle
forward.”
the Midwest.” She recalled one airport in particular
where she and Rob’s planes were the only ones there.
Suddenly a Tri-Motor, followed by a bunch of Wacos,
Travel Airs, and Stearmans landed. “I was no longer
in the present, but back in the late 1930s,” she said.
“About that same time another pilot walked up to me
and said hello. Before I knew it, I was strapping myself
into the front seat of my Stearman as my newfound
friend was in the back pushing the throttle forward.”
Her new friend was John Mohr, and he gave Sarah
her first aerobatic lesson. “John ran me through the
wringer on that flight as he did maneuvers with my
Stearman that were either graceful or caused bruises to
both my shoulders as I was racked from side to side!
After I landed I was giggling like a school girl.”
Later that night a group was sitting under the wing
talking about how cool it would be if they could do
this all summer long and barnstorm across the country.
That dream became a reality in 2006 with the American
Barnstormers Tour. Sarah took charge of marketing and
PR for a fun-loving group of antique airplane pilots roaring across the Midwest giving airplane rides to hundreds
of people. “I am probably as proud of being part of this
tour as anything else I have ever done in my life. I feel
that you should do things in your life that are important
enough to outlive you.”
Sarah certainly lives by that motto because it was while
she was on the last tour that she had the opportunity to
fly an airplane that would forever change her. She was
Bonnie Kratz
Stearman serial #42-17836 was delivered as a PT-13D to the Army Air Corps
at Goodfellow Field in San Angelo, Texas, and assigned to the 2533 Air Base
Squadron primary training where it remained for the duration of its service
career.
Jim Koepnick
The cockpit is anything but high-tech, yet with two
GPS units and a vertical compass, cross-country
travel in a 1943 biplane is made much easier.
Jim Koepnick
Because Blu is equipped with a landing light, nav lights, and instrument lighting,
night flying and seeing the blue flame glowing from the exhaust stack is a
special treat.
