What’s your Stearman IQ? Don’t wash out on this test

Dozens of biplanes will fill the sky over Western Illinois for much of the week that starts on Labor Day.

They’re here for the National Stearman Fly-In at Galesburg Municipal Airport, an end-of-summer event observing its 46th anniversary in 2017.

The colorful craft – most of them are the Stearman Model 75, the venerable World War II-era primary trainer — draw people to the airport every year for a closer look. For some, the festival is old hat. Others discover more about the planes every year.

What’s your Stearman IQ? Take the following test to find out.

The answers – no peeking until you’ve gone through all the questions – follow the quiz.

    More military pilots learned to fly in the Stearman Model 75 series of aircraft than any other plane built. How many planes did the factory in Wichita, KS, produce? (A) 997 (B) 8,428 (C) 12,561

    Who designed the Stearman Model 75? (A) Lloyd C. Stearman (B) Glenn Curtiss (C) Mac Short, Jack Clark, Harold Zipp

    What color was the Stearman painted when it came off the production line? (A) Silver (B) Blue (C) Yellow

    How fast is a Model 75? (A) Cruise speed 110 mph, maximum speed 128 mph (B) Cruise speed 88 mph, maximum speed 111 mph (C) Cruise speed 96 mph, maximum speed 135 mph

    How much fuel does a Model 75 carry, and where is it stored? (A) 27 gallons, in a tank behind the engine (B) 44 gallons, in a tank between the two cockpits (C) 46 gallons, in a tank in the center section of the upper wing

    How much fuel does a Model 75 use ? (A) 10 gallons an hou r (B) 12 gallons an hour (C) 14 gallons an hour

    What is the wingspan? (A) 31-feet-2-inches upper, 31-feet-2-inches lowe r (B) 32-feet-2-inches upper, 31-feet-2-inches lower (C) 32-feet-3-inches upper, 31-feet-3-inches lower

    What engines powered the Model 75? (A) Continental R-670, 200 horsepower (B) Lycoming R-680, 225 horsepower (C) Jacobs R-755, 240 horsepower (D) All of the above (E) None of the above

    What happened to the Stearmans after World War II ended? (A) Many were scrapped (B) Many were used for target practice (C) Many were sold for surplus, converted to crop dusters

    How many Stearman Model 75s are still flying? (A) 863 (B) 3,128 (C) Exact number unknown

Answers:

  1. (B) 8,428 plus enough spare parts to assemble another 2,000.
  2. (C) Stearman engineers Short, Clark and Zipp used a drawing of Lloyd Stearman’s last biplane design, the Model 6 Cloudboy, to produce the Stearman Model 70. Refinements led the Model 73 and then the Model 75. By then Stearman had left his namesake company and it was a subsidiary of Boeing Aircraft Co.
  3. (A) Silver. Most Army Air Corps trainers were subsequently painted with a blue fuselages and yellow wings – The Kaydet. Navy planes had yellow fuselages and yellow wings – The Yellow Peril. Other markings were the choice of the base commander.
  4. (C) Cruise speed 96 mph, maximum speed 135 mph.
  5. (C) 46 gallons, in a tank in the center section of the upper wing.
  6. (B) 12 gallons an hour.
  7. (B) 32-feet-2-inches upper, 31-feet-2-inches lower.
  8. (D) All of the above. They are 7-cylinder, air-cooled radial engines.
  9. (C) Many were sold for surplus, converted to crop dusters
  10. (C) No exact answer, but the number is estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 world-wide.