Aircraft model
BOEING A75L3
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The A75L3 is a Boeing-Stearman Model 75 with a Lycoming R-680 radial in place of the Continental R-670 of the specced A75. All the Model 75s share one airframe -- the 32 ft 2 in staggered biplane wings, the steel tube fuselage and the two open cockpits -- and what distinguishes the designations is almost entirely which engine is bolted to the front of it. It is slow, it burns a lot of fuel to go nowhere, and none of that is the point.
Ownership is radial-engine ownership plus fabric. The engine will want a top overhaul before it wants an overhaul, it will leak oil onto the aeroplane and the pilot, and the shops that know these engines are getting fewer every year. The airframe is steel tube and wood spars under fabric: the recover is the big periodic bill and the wood is what a pre-purchase inspection is really for. A very large proportion of the fleet spent decades as crop dusters and was rebuilt from the ground up afterwards, so the logbooks matter more than the calendar age.
Compare with…
Put BOEING A75L3 side by side with up to two other models.
- BOEING A75L3
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming R-680 (radial) |
| Horsepower | 225 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | military-surplus |
| Production start | 1940 |
| Production end | 1945 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 85 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 430 nm |
| Service ceiling | 11,200 ft |
| Climb rate | 859 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 47 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 781 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 505 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,717 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,936 lb |
| Usable fuel | 46 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 12.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $70,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $160,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $52,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $88,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 91 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 32 |
| Median year built | 1942.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 31.25 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 31.25 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 2 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 6.25 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 32 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 32 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 32 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0 of 103 |
| Support | 3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.2 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 29.1 · 174 models in class.
- Severity: class median 9.09.
- Access: class median 974.
- Support: class median 81.
- Liquidity: class median 20.47.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.