"Military warbirds are making a return to Western Australian skies next month, with an original 1941 Boeing Stearman military trainer taking wing over Bunbury and Perth.
Former Emirates pilot Johan Strydom, who owns and restored the World War II aircraft as part of tour company Open Air Adventure Flights, said he wants to revive the essence of vintage biplane flight over the beaches and forests of Western Australia.
More than 10,000 Stearman aircraft were built by the US during the 1930s and 1940s, with the aircraft serving as a primary trainer for the US Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, and US Army. In post-war retirement, they found new purpose as crop dusters, sports planes, aerobatic and wing walking aircraft. The Western Australian aircraft features traditional military colours and early war American Army star insignia. “The aircraft itself is fully aerobatic. They were a flight trainer for the US Army and Navy back in the 1940s, and that’s where the guys did their initial training, including aerobatics, and that’s what we’ll offer as well,” he said.
“We can do basically your normal aerobatics. So, loops and rolls, hammerheads … barrel rolls, flying inverted for a very short time. That sort of thing.
“The dream all starts with a pilot. That’s me and the need to have a Boeing Stearman in my life … I’ve always said, ‘If I could own a little Tiger Moth or a Stearman in one day, it’ll be great and I think many pilots out there can resonate with that feeling.
“Although it is in its military colours, those military colours are not a traditional camouflage of green and brown. It is actually yellow and blue. So, the fuselage is blue, but the wing’s yellow, and it’s got American star insignia on it… This is the colour that they actually used for these planes to make them visible, for students to see each other in flight.”
Strydom confirmed that the open-air, wind-shield cockpit aircraft will likely have an entry-level flight range of 10 to 15 minutes, with a push to 45 minutes for scenic flights. The aircraft is currently being fitted with lower wing parts ahead of an expected flight date towards the end of June.
“There’s no (exact) date at the moment because we’re having new lower wings fitted to the airplane, just to give her a little bit of renewed life … It should be ready by end of next month (June),” he said.
“This Stearman was originally built in Wichita, Kansas, and it ended up in New Zealand at an airfield called Omaka (Aerodrome) airfield in the South Island … From there, I found it online, just searching around for these airplanes. I’m always sort of looking at prices and what’s available, and I was just sort of dreaming out loud.
“She’s been upgraded now; she’s got a larger motor. So, they originally came out with a 220 horsepower seven-cylinder radial engine, and what we’ve got on now is a nine cylinder, much larger cubic inch engine.
In a past career, Strydom flew Embraer passenger jets for South Africa Airlink in Africa, obtained work as a bush pilot for the UN World Food Program and later undertook Emirates long-haul flights on Boeing 777 wide-body airliners in the Middle East.
However, he longed for a return to vintage aircraft designs.
“I left Emirates on a very good note as a pilot there, but I did not want to fly long-haul anymore. I didn’t want to live out of a suitcase and that sort of thing. So I had to sort of come and find my feet and do something different,” he said.
“Obviously, I still loved flying. I just didn’t need to fly straight for 10 hours at a time.
“I just realised that I’d still like to fly, but just differently. Let’s move back to general aviation and sort of get more of a hands-on experience again, instead of autopilot.
“I have such a tremendous love and passion for flying, and I really wanted to get back in touch with what mankind’s dream was about flight.
“The early days with the open cockpit, it really does capture the essence of what that dream was for humans to take flight. And I guess that’s what I want to try and get in touch with.
“With an aircraft like a Stearman, you can fly low enough, over the beach, for instance, that you’re going to smell the ocean. You’re going to smell smoke, and you may smell the forest.”
