Page 22 - Volume 13 Number 2

Stearman – The Early Days Part One
In 1926 Lloyd Carlton Stearman bid Wichita, Kansas, farewell to go west and build biplanes, but a year later was back in town to stay.
by Edward H. Phillips
Walter H. Beech shook hands with his friend and associate at the Travel Air Manufacturing Company after flying the Travel Air Special – a handsome, custom-built biplane designed for speed. It was September 1925, and that month Beech had “cleaned up” at the regional air races held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, beating all competitors and taking home much needed cash to keep the infant company solvent.
The friend/associate, Lloyd C. Stearman, was a young, self-taught designer and budding engineer who, with
help from aeronautical engineer Mac Short, had created the Special and installed a 160-horsepower Curtiss C-6 engine up front under a metal, hand-crafted cowling. Capable of speeds in excess of 120 mph, the sleek biplane earned the admiration of both civilian and military pilots at the races.
In 1920 Stearman had begun his career in aviation when he assisted Emil Matthew Laird in development of the Laird Swallow – a two-place, open-cockpit, double-bay biplane powered by the ubiquitous Curtiss
20 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
The Stearman C1 was a handsome airplane. The Curtiss OX-5 engine was housed in a hand-fabricated, sheet metal cowling with the water radiator integrated into the entire design. The outrigger-type landing gear provided good shock absorption and the front cockpit was generously upholstered for comfort of the two passengers. (Edward H. Phillips Collection)
JANUARY 2019