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tight-knit clan deeply committed to the cause of building aircraft in the prairie city. They were also patriots and strong believers in protecting the American way of life. There was a certain camaraderie between Walter Beech, Julius Schaefer, Walter Innes, Dwane Wallace and others that helped to hold the struggling industry together during tough times. They were competitors, but more importantly, they were Wichitans. All of them realized that it was in the best interest of everyone to keep Wichita at the forefront of small aircraft manufacturing in America, both in times of peace or global conflict.
Meanwhile, late in 1933, Stearman engineers Mac Short, Harold Zipp and J. Jack Clark were designing a two-place, open-cockpit biplane designated the Model 70. The airplane would spearhead the company’s efforts to win military contracts from the United States Army Air Corps and the Navy. Based on the commercial Model 6 Cloudboy, the latest Stearman was ready for its first flight in January 1934 under the command of company test pilot David “Deed” Levy. After a short flight he reported that the ship flew well and exhibited no bad habits. Later that month Levy flew the Model 70 to Wright Field near Dayton, Ohio, where it was “wrung out” by both Army and Navy pilots. Additional evaluations were conducted at Naval Air Station Anacostia in Washington, D.C., and at the Navy’s pilot training facility in Pensacola, Florida.
The Army, still woefully short of funds to buy new aircraft, expressed no further interest in the biplane, but the Navy invited Stearman officials to provide a quotation for a trainer similar to the Model 70, but with certain modifications. Schaefer and Innes were overjoyed when, in May 1934, the Navy ordered 41 airplanes designated NS-1 (Stearman Model 73). In addition, the contract specified spare parts sufficient to build another 20 ships. Schaefer was quick to share the good news with the people of Wichita. The Eagle newspaper recognized the importance of the contract to the city: “Drama lies behind the simple, business-like announcement of the [Stearman] factory, for Wichita, metropolis of the Plains, is accorded a large part in the up building of the nation’s sea forces more than a thousand miles away. Despite determined work on the part of Wichita’s plane builders and air enthusiasts, few large military contracts have been awarded factories here. The big order accorded the Stearman plant is thought to have broken down this barrier and to point the way to national recognition of Wichita as capital of the air whether in peace or war.”
The first NS-1 for the Navy was completed early in December, and the Army Air Corps evaluated an upgraded version of the Model 73 known as the Model X75. In February 1935, the Army issued a specification and a request for bid to the Stearman Aircraft Company. That summer the federal government placed orders for
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JUNE 2016 KING AIR MAGAZINE • 25