Page 28 - Volume 13 Number 5

A New Beginning – Part Two
The PT-13 was powered by a Lycoming R-680 static, air- cooled radial engine rated at 225 horsepower. The airplane shown was undergoing evaluations by the Army Air Corps at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, in 1935.
(Courtesy U.S. Air Force, AETC History Office)
As the Second World War engulfed Western Europe and the Mediterranean region, the Stearman Aircraft Company received massive orders for its Model 75 primary trainer that would train thousands of cadets
and prepare America for a conflict it hoped to avoid.
by Edward H. Phillips
By 1936 the “New Deal” policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the United States Congress were beginning to make life a little better. Wall Street was still weak but stocks were trending upward and trading was active, the banks had stabilized, as had the national money supply, and people were beginning to spend their hard-earned cash to further stimulate the economy.
The American aviation industry was slowly experiencing a cautious resurrection with all-metal airplanes such as the pioneering Boeing 247 and, in particular, the Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 that established a new technological benchmark for the airlines. Small airframe and engine manufacturers also were benefiting from the upswing in business. For example, during the autumn of 1936 in Wichita, Kansas, the Stearman
Aircraft Company factory was bursting at the seams with orders for primary training biplanes worth an astounding $450,000. The factory had never experienced such a high level of activity since the halcyon days of 1929, and company president Julius E. Schaefer wasted no time hiring more workers. In addition, he placed his 400 employees on a two-shift schedule in an effort to meet rising demand and tight delivery dates.
In August 1936 the United States Army Air Corps handed Schaefer an order for 50 Model A75L3 aircraft designated as PT-13A, following up the existing order for 26 PT-13 trainers of which only half had been completed when the new contract arrived. Three months later the Air Corps exercised its option for an additional 30 PT- 13A biplanes and ended the year by signing for another 28 aircraft in December.
26 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
MAY 2019