Everybody’s Favorite Trainer

Starting in 1934, the same year it was acquired by Boeing, the Stearman Aircraft Company of Wichita began building a sturdy biplane trainer. By the end of the war more than 10,000 of them had been built, and they introduced novice Army and Navy pilots, including a young George Herbert Walker Bush, to the wonder of flight. More than 1,000 still fly today, and no group has more fun with a Stearman than the Flying Circus in Bealeton, Virginia. This Memorial Day show highlights a few of the hijinks the Stearmans perform.