Aircraft N69765

I was there at SZP also that day. I was told by another Museum member that Cliff's Stearman, based at SZP at Santa Paula Sky Services, was used as a stand-in aircraft at the Remembering Steve McQueen Homecoming Event with Barbara McQueen dinner and book signing, simply representing the Stearman that Steve McQueen learned to fly in. Steve McQueen was Pete Mason's first student, after Pete got his CFI. The actual ex-Steve McQueen Stearman is based now at Santa Monica Airport. I have photographed N69765 over many years, so didn't bother to photograph it on 6 December, 2008.

No, the Boeing Stearman N69765 is NOT Steve McQueen's old airplane-it was a stand-in display for same general type aircraft as McQueen's Stearman bipe. Cliff occasionally checks out others in his Stearman N69765, so he may or may not be a CFI-not sure. It is one of Cliff's personal airplanes. Cliff is an A&P who took over Santa Paula Sky Services after the owner died about June or July 2008.

Many Stearmans were finished in all yellow-N69765 is a USN version, and one Stearman bipe looks like another-the many variations were in the engines, mainly. Please see my article on the Boeing Stearman in the A-D site under More Articles-Warbirds for details on the Boeing Stearman trainer variants. The article features "Ruthies Doll", another Boeing Stearman bipe based at SZP. Cliff is set up mainly for aircraft maintenance-not initial flight training, which is done by CP Aviation at SZP. Incidentally, The Piper L-4 shown at the Remembering McQueen Homecoming Event was the exact L-4 that McQueen did once own. That L-4 was for sale. I took several photos of the L-4, and they are uploaded here.

Please get familiar with my Home Page here by clicking on my name on the A-D Home Page. My aircraft and airport photos are all sorted. I simply cannot memorize thousands of N numbers. (No one should try). You will find the ex-Steve McQueen Piper L-4 photos of mine under my Warbirds-Standard category-see Piper there and click on Piper. My photo captions will then tell you the particular open-hangared L-4 aircraft.

As for the ex-Steve McQueen Boeing Stearman at SMO, you will have to do your own research on that. I was simply told on good authority it is based there. That is why a local SZP stand-in Boeing Stearman was used for the Remembering Steve McQueen Homecoming Event at SZP. There were some other invited display aircraft at the event for vintage atmosphere that had no necessary connection to Steve McQueen. This is true for all such periodic Aviation Museum of SZP fund raising events. Attractive local examples of vintage aircraft are displayed at these events.

Found this on the web:

One of McQueen's Stearman was N3188 (75-2599). This aircraft was restored for him in the 70’s and was in a silver and black markings. This aircraft was used to scatter his ashes over Pacific as McQueen considered it to be his favourite aircraft.

3188 was McQueens old school number.

The aircraft has been owned, at least since 2000, by Willis M Allen III and has been part of the Allen Airways Flying Museum, Gillespie Field, El Cajon, Texas. It has also been noted in the Phoenix area where Mr Allen lives

Of course, Gillespie Field is in California, not Texas.

Chris Kennedy

I've been offline for about two and one half weeks and am just catching up here. N3188 is indeed the ex-Steve McQueen Boeing Stearman he learned to fly in. Steve was Pete Mason's first student pilot after Pete received his CFI and instruction was at SZP. McQueen was reported to be a fearless student who loved the Stearman. The Masons' modified Stearman is illustrated in my A-D article on "Ruthie's Doll", another SZP-based Boeing Stearman.

Here's a photo of N3188.

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/320364.html

Chris Kennedy

Thanks Chris, Your good photo of the Steve McQueen Stearman neatly completes the search for a photo requested on this Forum thread. Fine catch

N3188 had a welcome homecoming of sorts flying into SZP yesterday accompanying the World's oldest still flying airliner-the 1928 Boeing B 40C Airliner N5339 rebuilt by Addison Pemberton and family over eight years, and N10402, a 1930 Laird LC-1B-300 biplane. The sight of the three vintage biplanes arriving was exhilarating and dramatic-anticipated all day and came at 5 p.m. as scheduled. Also arriving near the same time was a stunning Piper Super Cub on Wipline amphibious floats-N7590K-photos of all uploaded or to follow on this site.

The Boeing and the Laird later took to the Ventura County skies to be photographed in flight in day's warm waning light by Michael Terry, commercial photographer and SZP pilot who annually publishes the Aviation Legends 16 month calendar. Wil Tinsley flew Mike's Cessna 180 N1627C as photo plane for the event. Look for Michael Terry's photos in the 2010 Aviation Legends calendar.

Doug,

Thanks for those pictures. ( when are you gonna start organizing your stuff...I can't find anything in there! : : )

That Boeing is a real beast! I would love to see her in person.

The Laird is Beautiful!

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/322231.html

There are only 12 Laird aircraft in the registry. I wonder how many of them are flyers? There is a Laird at my local field, I have not seen her fly in 13 years. And haven't seen her at all in about 5 years.

They are beautiful airplanes.

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/112782.html

Zane,

Thanks for your interest and nice compliment, heh, heh. Your Laird photos of some time ago show a very nice aircraft too. Matty Laird was a good designer who did so for speed. "Speed" Holman raced a Laird LC mailplane and the Laird LC-R Speedwing series was the result. St. Paul's Holman Field in Minnesota is named after "Speed" Holman.

N10402 was in Greg Herrick's Vintage Flight cross-country tour in 2003 commemorating the Wright Flyer's first powered man-carrying aircraft flight in 1903. In the late afternoon warm sun at SZP there was quite a spirited discussion of just what the Laird's trim color was. I chose to call it rose gold, but I am sure the metallic-like paint has a different name. My getting in that photo pose wasn't my idea, btw.

"Beast" in re the 40C is certainly right-the wingspan is over 44 feet and length over 33 feet-one huge bipe with more tuned strings than a symphony. About the Boeing B 40C Airliner history: Boeing built just 10 C models for Boeing-affiliated western airlines, according to Peter M. Bowers, the late noted aircraft historian, aircraft photographer, Boeing aeronautical engineer and designer of the Fly Babys and NAMU II, among his experimentals.

The N5339 40C fuselage was rebuilt by the Addison Pemberton family after Addison saw years before a non-flying example in the Henry Ford Museum. Some modern safety additions were incorporated. The engine is changed also. This should make it an Experimental class aircraft but the FAA record isn't clear on that, calling it a Boeing, not a Pemberton Boeing and nowhere stating Experimental. So, I have is listed it among my Production Biplanes. Further clarification is desired. I'm flexible and willing to move an entry to a more appropriate heading if wrong. (I have N3188 placed in Warbird Standard as it was first a Navy training warbird, despite present appearance and nomenclature). Boeing Stearmans can give me a headache, and I wish Chris well in his pursuit.

BTW, this thread has certainly departed from an essentially wrong ID of a Stearman aircraft's past ownership. Chris' photos of N3188 helped refocus it, and I was privileged to take more.