HISTORY
Lloyd Stearman established the
Stearman Aircraft Corporation in
1927. Initially, the company was
founded as Stearman Aircraft
Corporation in October 1926 at
Venice, California, where four C1
and C2 biplanes were built before
production halted for financial
reasons. On 27 September 1927 a new
Stearman Aircraft Corporation was
founded. The factory was then
established in Wichita, Kansas with
financing of Walter Innes where the
new model Stearman C3 and Stearman 4
Speedmail were constructed.
Two years later, he sold it to the
United Aircraft and Transport
Corporation.
In September
1934, United was forced to separate
its airline and aircraft
manufacturing operations. At this
time, Boeing became a separate
business once again, and Stearman
was made a subsidiary of it.
Stearman officially ceased to
operate as a brand at this point,
but it was at this same time that
the Stearman plant created its most
successful and enduring product, the
Model 75 "Kaydet". The Kaydet would
become the primary trainer aircraft
for the US military during World War
II.
In 2005,
Boeing sold the civil portion of the
former Stearman operations to Onex,
forming Spirit AeroSystems, although
they have retained the military
operations.
A national
Stearman fly-in is held every year
around Labor Day in Galesburg, IL.
Source:
Wikipedia
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