Hi All,

I'm contemplating building a 77" Ziroli Stearman (fuse length 59") and putting it on 45" Sea Commander flat-top floats. Any thoughts?

Harvey

A big bipe on floats, sounds good . . . My first attempt flying on/off water was with a .61 size bipe, very sucessful. I have migrated to flying boats now for better water handling etc .

I think 3 point (tail dragger type) would look better then 2 large. I am doing a 20% Jenny on these... The scale way is with a center float with tip floats on the wings.

http://www.seaplanesupply.com/oldtimer.htm

Stearman built a dozen armed biplanes (note the two .30 cal Brownings in the picture in my first post: one mounted in the leading edge of the right wing and one on a flexible mount on the turtledeck pointing aft) six for Cuba and six for Argentina during the late 1930s. The picture is of one of the Argentine Stearmans and clearly shows the double floats.

As for "the taildragger" floats, I put a set on my Antic and love their looks but they're not appropriate for a Stearman.

As for the single main float with tip floats, you're probably thinking of the N3N which looks similar to the Stearman but is, in fact, a different aircraft and was built by the Naval Aircraft Factory and not "Stearman". Otherwise, the two biplanes are so similiar, most airplane buffs get the two confused. (Hint, the N3N has 4 ailerons whereas the Stearman only has two; on the bottom wing only. The main landing gear legs on the wheeled versions are different too.)

Here's a bit of trivia for ya: The Stearman company was purchased by Boeing in the mid 1930s and it was under the Boeing name that the familiar WWII Army and Navy biplane trainers were produced. However, everyone was in the habit of calling the popular biplanes "Stearmans" and the moniker continued despite the manufacturer change, even to this day. The "correct" nomenclature for the WWII "Stearman" trainer is Boeing Model 75 but it's okay to continue to call them "Stearmans" since nobody outside of the Stearman community really knows what a Boeing Model 75 is. So, the next time you see an old oil-dripping Stearman cropduster out working a field, remind yourself that you're looking at the great-great-great-grandaddy of the Boeing 747. (True story!)

Harvey