Flight Days & the CATPM’s Stearman

This post is by one of our summer workers, Rory McCallum has submitted several blog posts over the last year, this is his latest. Rory is a Music student at Brandon University.

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum acquired a Stearman Kaydet last season (https://airmuseum.ca/2025/10/01/catpm-excited-to-welcome-historic-boeing-stearman-kaydet/), and we are thrilled to welcome it to our fleet of flying aircraft this summer. For the rest of the summer, the Stearman will be available for the CATPM’s remaining flight days, which, barring unforeseen circumstances, will occur on Armed Forces Day weekend (June 6-7) Canada Day, July 18^th, and 19^th, and more! (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gtXFLJEo5rG2IGt2NIwR10s75iJr0S7gcDqaFXynxWY/edit?tab=t.0) (note that flights are weather dependent).

With its open cockpit and (current) bright orange colour, our Stearman is a very recognizable training aircraft. First flown in 1934 in its Boeing hometown of Wichita, Kansas, the aircraft was originally utilized as a trainer for the US Army, featuring accommodation for a student and instructor. With fabric-covered wings and a welded-steel fuselage, it was powered by a single radial engine and was ideal for initial flight training.

Weighing around 2700 pounds and with a top speed of nearly 200 km/h, more than 8,400 of the aircraft were constructed during the war period, with around 300 seeing action after transfer from the US for use in the British Commonwealth Training Plan. Amazingly, more than 50% of US pilots had their initial flight in a Stearman, as did 10,000 RAF and Fleet Air Arm pilots in British Flying Training Schools in the United States from 1941 to 1944.

This arrival of Stearman to the RCAF in 1942 was an expansion of the BCATP’s fleet of basic trainers, serving at No. 3 Flying Instructors School in Arnprior, ON, as well as four Elementary Flying Training Schools on the prairies. However, the Stearman was found not to be a match for the biting prairie winters due to its open cockpit, and four months later, it was replaced by another one of the CATPM’s aircraft, the Fairchild Cornell.

Finally, it is important to acknowledge how exciting the arrival of a flying aircraft is to the museum. Visitors this summer will not only be able to observe the static aircraft but also see the biplane take off, bringing history to life in a unique way. Joining an ever-expanding collection of flightworthy aircraft, including the Tiger Moth, Fleet Finch, Harvard, Stinson, and possibly more to come. Each aircraft provided a different training role in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, telling a story of the more than 130,000 allied members of the Commonwealth who trained in Canada during the Second World War. We hope that this summer you may be able to take a ride in one of our aircraft or attend one of our flight days. Additionally, the Stearman will be flying on Armed Forces Day, which is coming up soon on June 7^th!