Rare Stearman Now Retired To Air Shows

The 1928 Stearman C3B mail plane has had a long, colorful history. From mail plane to passenger plane to crop duster, the rare aircraft has now been fully restored to its former glory at its new home at Brodhead Airport in Brodhead, WI.

Mike Williams, a retired Delta Air Lines pilot, and Kent McMakin, an aircraft restoration veteran, have taken the plane to mint condition with plans of air show participation this summer.

"It was a total rebuild of the airplane," Williams told the Monroe Times.

A tip from the previous owner led him to McMakin and, after seeing other planes McMakin had restored, "Then, I basically begged Kent to take mine," he said.

First commissioned by Continental Airlines in 1928 for use as a mail plane, Williams said, and was based in Blue Ash, OH flying Civil Air Route 16 between Cleveland and Louisville, KY. It was also converted to a crop duster at one time and eventually was owned by five different airlines, including Delta and American Airlines.

When Williams bought the plane in 2003, it didn't have its original engine, he said, and the team was lucky to find a very rare Wright J-5 engine.

"The engine cost twice as much as the airplane did," McMakin said. "There were a lot of parts on there that weren't original, and basically we were putting the plane back in stock factory condition. What we can't find, we make."

According to the Times, there are maybe 14 C3B planes in existence today. Williams' is reportedly the only one left manufactured as the commercial version.

Williams managed to not only locate a picture of his plane taken at an Atlanta airport air show in 1930, he also located former Eastern Airlines mechanic, Bish Simpson, who remembered the plane being painted black and orange.

For its air show debut, the Stearman won't have to go far. Brodhead Airport hosts several fly-in events a year, including the Hatz-Pietenpolin July and the Midwest Antique Airplane Club Grassroots fly-in in September.

(Photo courtesy of EAA Chapter 431)

FMI: www.eaa431.org