Aircraft model
BOEING B75N1
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The B75N1 is the Stearman variant built as the US Navy's N2S-3 primary trainer, with the 220 hp Continental R-670 radial. Mechanically and dimensionally it is the same aeroplane as the Army's PT-17 — an open-cockpit biplane with two tandem seats, wire bracing and a fabric-covered wood and steel structure, built in thousands to teach wartime pilots the basics.
Survivors fly for pleasure, for aerobatics and for paid rides, and a good one costs real money. The practical burdens are the radial engine, which throws oil, needs careful starting and warm-up and is expensive and increasingly specialised to overhaul; the fabric, which needs periodic recovering and permanent hangarage; the bracing wires, which must be inspected and tensioned; and the narrow landing gear, which gives the type a well-known ground-loop record. Both a tailwheel endorsement and a high-performance endorsement are required, and insurers will want documented time in type. Aircraft with the larger 450 hp Pratt & Whitney conversion are common and cost considerably more.
Compare with…
Put BOEING B75N1 side by side with up to two other models.
- BOEING B75N1
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental R-670-5 (radial) |
| Horsepower | 220 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | military-surplus |
| Production start | 1942 |
| Production end | 1944 |
| 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 | $50,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $200,000 |
| 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 | 553 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 241 |
| Median year built | 1942.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 17 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 70.541 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 58.092 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 38 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 15.773 |
| 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 241 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 241 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 241 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 1.1 of 101 |
| Severity | 7.7 of 102 |
| Access | 1.2 of 103 |
| Support | 8.4 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 2.9 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 21.3 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 25 · 181 models in class.
- Severity: class median 5.
- Access: class median 987.
- Support: class median 72.
- Liquidity: class median 20.59.
- 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.