What is The Definition of Insanity?
For 20 years I’ve been called crazy. Anyone who would climb out of a perfectly good airplane in flight must be nuts. But, crazy is an understatement when it comes to my latest adventure. I lost my wing walking gig during my divorce and missed it immensely. As a single mom raising two young boys, I thought that the dream was out of my reach. But that never stopped me in the past and it wouldn’t now. My biggest hurdle was not in finding a pilot but a plane. I knew that finding someone who would let me use their airplane was a slim possibility, so I resorted to what appeared as my only option….buy my own airplane.
Our old Stearman, “The Beast” was sitting in a hangar in Manassas, VA. The only problem was that it hadn’t flown in 7 years and I knew that it would need a lot of work and money to get back in the air, including a complete engine overhaul. I realized that I would have to look elsewhere, so I placed an ad on Barnstormers.com. I received a response from Steve Wagner who had a 450 Stearman that was 80% complete. There were so many questions involved. Do I want a project? How do I get it inspected? How do I pick it up? Who’s going to work on it? Miraculously after one phone call, everything fell into place.
I was talking to airshow announcer Rob Reider, who suggested I contact Ryan Dulas, a former Red Baron Mechanic who now worked for John Klatt airshows. He asked where the airplane was and when I told him it was in Minnesota he said “That is where Ryan is, and where the Red Barons were based”. So I called Ryan. Ryan was not going to be available to go inspect the plane for a few weeks, but he suggested another gentlemen who he claimed knew more about Stearmans than he did. That week the airplane was inspected and I was told I couldn’t find a better deal. It turns out this man was Jim Carlson, the former head of maintenance for the Red Barons. It also turned out that the builder was a friend of John and Lyn Mohr of Mohr Barnstorming who approved of the airplane as well.
The airplane needed to be finished, but was so beautifully built and would end up costing me less to finish than “The Beast” would have. Then everything continued to fall in place. The airplane was only a couple hours from Jim’s shop and he was willing to pick it up and complete the project for me. Along with Ryan, the two of them will be finishing what is planned to be one of the best 450 Airshow Stearmans in the country.
This is a big risk and a huge investment, but what makes this whole thing insane is the fact that I literally bought this airplane unseen. My decision was through email, pictures, and the advice of the best Stearman guys around. I have had the airplane picked up, made my first airplane payment, sent funds for part of the restoration and until now have not even touched my beautiful new bird. As I write this, I’m sitting on an airplane home from Minnesota where I saw and touched the plane for the very first time. It was better than I could have imagined and those feelings I had that felt so right through the purchase were only confirmed on my trip. Now it’s time to get back in the air. Stay tuned.
