"Little Louise Flys Cousin Bill's Stearman!"

From my Facebook Page:
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My late Cousin Bill built this Sterling Models (I believe) rendition of the immortal Boeing-Stearman "Kadet" biplane.

Extensively used during WWll  to give Army Air Force Cadets their first dose of aviation, the PT-17 Kadets were built in the thousands, and continued to serve after the war as Crop Dusters, Airshow Performers, Sky Writers, and Banner Draggers...along with who-knows how many other professions.

Bill finished his Stearman in the 1980's but never flew it.  Eventually gifted to me by Uncle Wayne, I did a bit of restoration work on it, including giving the empty cockpit a pilot:  "Little Louise".
Little Louise was a gift from Mitch & Patty when they were running Tailwinds R/C Hobby Center in Cape Girardeau, and somewhat shamefully, she's been patiently waiting several years for her first flight.

After bragging and failing (a familiar combination for me) that I was gonna fly the Stearman at S.M.A.L.L., it was surely the time to have it and Louise make some circles.

The scale propeller Bill made up for display is really too large for the old McCoy, but I wanted to use it, even knowing we were gonna be on the backside of the power curve.

The hill had a pretty calm morning, and so today became "The Day".  After a test run of the McCoy, Louise and her Stearman were "stooged up", refueled, and launched.  I'd decided to skip any inflight video/photos for the 1st flight, which was about the wisest thing I've done all week.
I knew the Stearman would be a bit tail-heavy, and it was...as in: full down elevator jabs for about half the flight.  That alone kept me busy, along with a breeze that showed up just in time to add to my excitement.

The McCoy, apparently delighted to be brought back to life, just ran and ran, as the Stearman tried to put on it's own imitation of a bucking pony.

Finally, and luckily, during one of the biplane's few level moments, the McCoy croaked, and I got the plane and Little Louise onto the grass without even tipping over.

So, the Stearman will fly again, on a calmer day, and with a goodly amount of lead stuck in it's nose to keep Little Louise from peril.