In past years we've visited the National Stearman Fly-in in Galesburg, Illinois. This is an annual event and is the largest gathering of the Boeing Stearman in the world, typically seeing upwards of 100 Stearmans of various types making the trip for the event. The 2023 fly-in was the 52nd in the history of the gathering but weather and forest fire smoke affected the fly-in with a somewhat lower turn out.

During the week long event, always held during the first week of September, the fly-in sees Stearmans arrive from all over the United States and, usually, at least one from Canada. Though there are an estimated 1000+ airworthy Stearmans around the world, most are US based. Despite there being at least 10 airworthy examples in Canada, for some reason, most owners/pilots are hesitant to make the trip across the border to the fly-in.

The National Stearman Fly-in (NSFI) was founded by Tom Lowe, who has attended every NSFI, and the late Jim Leahy in September of 1972. In fact, Jim & Tom funded the fly-in for the first few years and, without their dedication in wanting to honour the Stearman, and those who flew her, and continue with the yearly gathering, it may not have happened nor would the fly-in have made it to 52 years and counting.

The 2021 NSFI was the 50th anniversary of the event and it saw the largest gathering of Stearmans with 152 making the trip to Galesburg!!! There were stock Stearmans, powered by either a Pratt & Whitney, Lycoming or Jacobs radial engine offering some 220hp. There were other Stearmans that wear engines such as 320hp and 450hp, among others. The latter Stearmans are also modified with upper and lower ailerons, larger fuel capacity and things like wheel pants, glass cockpits, very unique paint schemes and more.

Though you don't necessarily need to be rich or overly wealthy to own and fly a Stearman, you will need deeper pockets than, say, one would owning and flying a Champ, Cub or Canuck. The stock Stearman with, as an example, a P&W 670, 220hp engine will typically burn about 14-15 gallons per hour so, your "$100 hamburger" is somewhat more expensive and increases rapidly from there when you get into the more powerful 450hp Stearman. Add in the need for lots of engine oil on top of that. Of course, when you're flying a Stearman you care less about the operating costs than you do about the absolute joy of flying these beautiful, historic vintage aircraft.

When most people think of the term "warbird" thoughts of the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, P-51 Mustang and P-40 Tomahawk are typically the type of warbirds that people think of but the Boeing Stearman is as much a warbird as those listed above. Thousands of World War II airmen learned to fly on the Boeing Stearman at bases across the United States and a few in Canada. The Stearman wasn't the easiest aeroplane to learn on and fly. They are a full, hands-on aircraft and you work to flying the aeroplane every second you're in it. From take off to airwork to landing, you fly the aeroplane, hands and feet all in! They are not the most forgiving aircraft to fly and, if you're not paying attention, it'll bite you in the ass quick. However, if you can fly a Stearman you can probably fly most any other tail draggers.

At the NSFI every year they offer workshops, seminars, presentations and fly-out events throughout the week. Wake up early and head out for "Dawn Patrol" for a hearty breakfast, as long as the weather cooperates! This year several pilots and crews rose long before dawn and made their way to Galesburg Airport to get their aircraft untied, get the daily walk around inspection done and prepare to head out at first light. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had different designs for the morning and socked the airfield in with a thick morning mist that persisted with a thick mist and cloud throughout most of the morning. A few brave souls took off but, after disappearing into the low lying mist/cloud, many other pilots had second thoughts and taxied back to their tiedowns or to a parking area in the hopes of waiting it out.

One of the usual lunch fly-outs also saw inclement weather that had most Stearman pilots leave their aircraft tied down at Galesburg with some opting to grab a ride instead and make their way to Kewanee Municipal Airport rather than risking a flight with low cloud and rain. Despite that, the other fly-outs were well represented with Stearmans and pilots including Tri-County Airport (K2C6), Gen-Air Park (Geneseo, IL) and Wolford's Farm. These fly-outs are always popular and the hosts are superb folks who volunteer for their events and offer some delicious meals for all including pilots, crews, local pilots and drive-in locals.

In recent years the NSFI has seen enough funds raised to allow them to build a fabulous new hangar at Galesburg Airport with a great NSFI store and offices. This facility has in-floor heating, men's and ladies washrooms and assorted other facilities within the building. The folks with NSFI have done and outstanding job on the hangar but that should come as no surprise as everything they do with the fly-in is very well and highly organised. From the dozens and dozens of volunteers from drivers to tour guides to the NSFI executive, everyone works long, hard hours, in some cases throughout the year, at making this event one of the top aviation events in the country, maybe in the world.