Page 31 - Volume 13 Number 5

Maneuvers that had to be learned and demonstrated correctly during that time included takeoff, landing, straight and level flight, turns, climbs, descents, glides, stalls, spins and forced landings. If the cadet mastered these, he would be taught crosswind landings, lazy eights and eights on pylons followed by elementary aerobatic maneuvers such as loops and rolls.
Many of the cadets learned to ignore the Stearman PT-13’s airspeed indicator, relying instead on aerodynamic indications. As one fledgling pilot recalled: “We just didn’t look at the airspeed instrument. A real pilot didn’t do that. We just listened to the sound of the wind in the wires. It was very reliable. When it reached the correct pitch (every airplane was slightly different) the glide was just right. Not too slow and not too fast.” Typically, during his time at Randolph Field a cadet would receive 70 hours of flight training. If he didn’t “wash out” of the program and graduate, the cadet transferred across the field and began four months of training in more powerful airplanes such as the North American AT-6.
The company ended 1937 in the black but also had made a substantial contribution to the Boeing Aircraft Company’s bottom line. Early in 1938 Boeing officials reported a consolidated net profit of $311,683 for a return on investment of $0.51 cents per share of stock. The company held a backlog of unfilled orders worth more than $14 million. Schaefer reported that Stearman Aircraft had delivered 91 airplanes in 1937, and Boeing had delivered 13 “Flying Fortress” heavy bombers to the Army Air Corps and held orders for another 26 of the four- engine monoplanes. In April 1938 Stearman Aircraft was renamed the Stearman Division of Boeing Aircraft Company, and by the end of the year plans were underway to expand both the facilities and the workforce in Wichita. Fresh
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KING AIR MAGAZINE • 29