What's special about a Stearman biplane? It's one of the most used biplanes in history. They have been used as trainers, scouts, crop dusters, and stunt planes, among other uses. Between 1930 and 1945, Boeing built around ten thousand of the things, and there are still about a thousand air-worthy Stearmans today.

When I was still new to Second Life, one of my more popular planes was a biplane that looked vaguely like a Stearman. Eventually, I had to take it off the market. I had created it using a kind of hack that let me build a high-prim, physical model, and that hack apparently had the ability to crash a sim on occasion. Oops.

Now, about three and a half years later, I'm revisiting the Stearman with everything I've learned about making virtual vehicles. This high-prim, two-seat replica has taken many hours, but I'm close to the finish now.



Give me another week, and you too can take to the skies in this icon of flight history.

Stearman links:
Warbird Alley: Boeing / Stearman PT-17 "Kaydet"
Wikipedia: Boeing Stearman