Aircraft model
BOEING A75N1(PT17)
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Stearman, built by Boeing in Wichita as the PT-17 and N2S primary trainer, of which well over eight thousand were made during the Second World War. It is an open-cockpit biplane with a 220 hp radial engine, two tandem seats, and wire bracing, and after the war thousands were sold cheaply and used as cropdusters. What survives today flies for pleasure, for aerobatics, and for paid rides.
Nobody buys one as transport. It does 85 knots, it is loud, it is cold and windy, and there is no cabin. What it offers is an experience nothing else provides. The practical burdens are substantial: a radial engine that throws oil, needs careful starting and is expensive to overhaul; a fabric-covered wooden-and-steel structure that needs recovering periodically and hangarage always; wire bracing that must be checked and tensioned; and a narrow-tracked taildragger with a lot of power and a well-earned ground-loop reputation. It requires both a tailwheel endorsement and a high-performance endorsement, and insurance will demand real time in type. Aircraft fitted with larger engines — the 450 hp Pratt & Whitney conversions used for cropdusting and aerobatics — are common and priced much higher.
Compare with…
Put BOEING A75N1(PT17) side by side with up to two other models.
- BOEING A75N1(PT17)
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental W670-6A (radial) |
| Horsepower | 220 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 | 840 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 | 12.3 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $79,500 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $195,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $50,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $85,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 1,420 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 760 |
| Median year built | 1942.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 38 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 501 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 42.112 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 98 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 12.893 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 760 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 760 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 760 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 2.9 of 101 |
| Severity | 6.4 of 102 |
| Access | 1.2 of 103 |
| Support | 9.5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.8 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 21.8 out of 506 |
These record scores treat BOEING A75N1(PT17) as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 59 aircraft registered as BOEING A75N1; includes 1 aircraft registered under BOEING/CAINS RICHARD G; includes 1 aircraft registered under BOEING/DEKKER; includes 1 aircraft registered under BOEING/JOHNSON; includes 1 aircraft registered under BOEING/MAYS; includes 1 aircraft registered under BOEING/MEHRER; includes 1 aircraft registered under BOEING/MOUNTAIN VIEW AIR REP; includes 1 aircraft registered under BOEING/SMITH; includes the record of aircraft once registered under BOEING-STEA. Prices are not combined.
- 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.