THIS IS THE 1940 Stearman that my wife and I completed
in July 2010. We are both A&P-IA mechanics and flight
instructors, and we own a flight school and maintenance
shop in Winter Haven, Florida. We bought this airplane
partially restored in December 2009 and stuck to a
grueling schedule of working on it about 10-12 hours a
day, seven days a week, with hopes of completing it in
time for EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. The first flight was on
July 20, and we arrived at Oshkosh five days later, just in
time for the start of the show!
The rebuild consisted of removing the old fabric from
the wings, inspecting, cleaning and re-varnishing all of
the wood, and removing all of the metal components for
blasting and paint. We covered it all using Poly-Fiber
Aero-Thane, and it turned out great. We added several
upgrades and custom touches to the plane that included a
larger Lycoming R-680-13 300-hp engine and a constant-
FLORIDA STEARMAN
speed Hamilton Standard 2B20-9 propeller. We had a custom
switch panel and radio box made that house an Icom A210 comm,
Garmin GTX 327 transponder, and PM1200 intercom. We also
installed Redline disc brakes, an Airwolf oil filter system, Jasco
alternator conversion, and Whelen nav/strobe lights for increased
visibility here in the crowded Florida skies. Total build time was
around 2,500 hours.
The one custom touch I am most proud of is the nose art. My
wife, Liz, has been taking belly dance classes for the last year, and
her class performs at many local events. I “stole” one of her belly
dance pictures and had a 12-inch nose art decal put on the plane,
next to its name, Lizzy Belle. When it came time to put the N
number on the plane I had only one number in mind: 714 (July 14),
our anniversary.
Jonathan Amundsen, EAA 592116; Winter Haven, Florida
E-mail: jonpilot45_7ac@hotmail.com
MINNESOTA STINSON
I JUST COMPLETED THIS 1947 Stinson 108-2 and have flown it a few
times. This is the sixth airplane I’ve completed in the past 50
years. I’m not keeping it because I have other projects I’m working
on. I have a Seabee that I maintain and fly regularly. I’ve restored
many types of fabric-covered planes, at least 30. I like the Ceconite
process, although I’ve used other processes including cotton and
Irish linen.
