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biplanes powered by Wright J4 radial or Curtiss K6
inline engines.
The route would prove to be a formidable challenge
considering the aircraft and technology of the day. One
Post Official described C.A.M. 5 as “starting nowhere
and engine ending nowhere, and over impossible country
getting there.”
Walter Varney and Lloyd Stearman knew each other
well. Varney was the first customer to order a custom-
built airmail airplane from Lloyd – the C2M. Built to
Varney’s specifications and completed in the summer of
1927, it would prove to be the right airplane at the right
time both for Varney and Stearman. The handsome ship
was assigned Varney Fleet Number 8 and quickly proved
to be a major improvement in performance compared to
the aging New Swallows that would eventually disappear
entirely from the C.A.M. 5 route.
On July 19 Fred Hoyt departed Clover Field in the
C2M. He landed at a field near San Francisco where
Varney pilots put the biplane through its paces, then
took off for Salt Lake City, Utah, where Mr. Varney
officially accepted the ship. The C2M was quickly placed
into service flying the mail along the treacherous air
trail, a distance of more than 400
statute miles between Elko, Pasco
and Salt Lake City. A testimony
to Varney’s success as an airmail
operator appeared in the August
1927 issue of Aero Digest magazine
– a popular publication that covered
news, technical developments and
regulatory issues. The article stated
that during the first six months of
1927 Varney Air Lines averaged an
efficiency rating of 84 along that
route. Of 332 scheduled flights, 278
were completed, 26 were listed as
“incomplete” and 28 were grounded
by inclement weather both day and
night. Reports showed, however, that
Varney’s fleet had flown 147,340
statute miles while carrying 22,612
pounds of mail that earned the
company $67,838.
The fourth and final airplane built
by the original Stearman Aircraft,
Inc., was a Model C2C (constructor
number 104). George Lyle, one
of the original investors in Lloyd
Stearman’s company, bought the
fourth airplane and it remained in
airworthy condition at least through
1934 when it was operated by the
Quick Flying Service based at
Chehalis, Washington.
Although almost identical to the
C2, it featured a Hispano-Suiza
upright V-type, eight-cylinder
engine rated at 180 horsepower.
The engine was well-built and
reliable, having evolved from the
same powerplant that powered the
famous British S.E.-5 and French
SPAD S.VII and XIII-series fighters
during the Great War. The engine
was built in the United States by
the Wright-Martin company under
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­ KING AIR MAGAZINE ­ KING AIR MAGAZINE MARCH 2019
MARCH 2019