Page 33 - Volume 13 Number 4

Somewhere in the skies above NAS Pensacola, Florida, three NS-1 primary trainers flew in a tight wing- abreast formation that demanded full concentration by each pilot. Metal
covers over the front- mounted magnetos of the Wright J5 radial engines had been removed on all three airplanes, possibly to ease servicing. (Archives of the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce)
Fortunately for Julius Schaefer and his band of workers, the wisdom of UA&TC back in 1930 to build a new, larger factory was about to pay off. The company had more than enough square footage to easily meet the Navy contract and no additional workers were needed. The only personnel change was the appointment of a naval officer to oversee production and ensure each biplane complied with the Navy’s specifications. With raw materials in hand, the same men and women who built the Model 70 now cut spruce and sewed cotton fabric to construct the first NS-1 (Stearman Model 73, c/n 73001, Navy serial number 9677) that was completed in December.
It is interesting to note that only a few months before the Navy contract was awarded, Schaefer and his associates were deeply concerned about the ramifications of the U.S. government’s attempt to break up large holding companies such as UA&TC, charging that these organizations were by their very nature monopolistic and threatened to dominate entire industries. Corporate executives, however, quickly realized how to circumvent any prohibition against restraint of trade by creating holding companies that acquired securities and, therefore, control of member companies.
In response, Congress passed the Clayton Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act in 1934. The Clayton Act prohibited stock acquisitions that could lessen competition as well as forbidding price discrimination. As for the Federal Trade Commission, it was specifically tasked with the responsibility of preventing companies from engaging in unfair methods of competition. In the wake of these laws, UA&TC reinvented itself, with the Stearman Aircraft Company becoming affiliated with the renamed Boeing Aircraft Company.
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It was not surprising that the changes made by UA&TC sparked wild rumors in Wichita. Chief among these was speculation that the Stearman factory soon would be closed, everyone would be laid off and the company relocated to the East or West Coast. Julius Schaefer quickly doused such rumors and assured employees that the reorganization would result only in the company becoming a subsidiary of Boeing. Schaefer also told stockholders and the local press that Stearman’s business “was found to be in splendid shape” with one large contract for the Navy’s NS-1 trainer well underway with “prospects of other orders from the United States Army as well.”3
Schaefer’s prediction soon proved to be true when the Army Air Corps expressed serious interest in an improved version of the Model 73 primary trainer. Late in
Factory photograph of an NS-1’s aft cockpit reveals sim- plicity of the instrument panel layout. Throttle and mixture controls were located on the left side. (Kansas Aviation Museum)
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