Ross Munro says compared to other aircraft he flew in during his military career, the World War II-era Boeing PT-17 Stearman biplane is much “sportier.”
“It was kind of like a sports car, you know, open cockpit,” he said.
Munro, who is a retired U.S. Navy veteran, was among six veterans invited to take a free plane ride in the Stearman last Saturday at Elizabeth City Regional Airport. The free rides over the surrounding Albemarle area were sponsored by Dream Flights, a nonprofit that honors military veterans and seniors.
“It was awesome,” Munro said of his ride. “Big smile on my face the entire time.”
Munro was joined by five current or retired U.S. Coast Guard members at the event. Munro, a former Navy SEAL, helped organize Saturday’s visit by Dream Flights pilot Jeff Klosky and crew chief Dave Schwark. Munro said he first met Dream Flights founder Darryl Fisher while visiting Boston.
“I was supposed to get a Dream Flight up there and they said, ‘Hey, we’ll come to you,” said Munro, who lives with his family in Camden County.
Munro said Navy SEALs “get a lot of love.” So he responded to Dreams Flights’ offer to come to Elizabeth City by asking if local Coast Guard personnel could be included in the free flights.
“And Dream Flights said, ‘Absolutely,” he said.
Representing Dream Flights were Klosky, who is a retired U.S. Air Force pilot, and Schwark, who is a retired Air Force veteran and former electronic warfare officer and B-52 crew member. Both volunteer their time to Dream Flights, which is able to provide the free flights with the help of several corporate sponsors.
Klosky explained the origins of Dream Flights during a pre-flight briefing.
In 2011, Fisher was having a Stearman restored and while flying home he stopped in Oxford, Mississippi, where he offered to take a local World War II veteran up for a ride.
“The media got hold of it, the residents just loved it,” Klosky said. “It was just a big hit. So, they repeated it a couple of days later in another town on his (Fisher’s) way home again.”
They received the same enthusiastic response and Fisher and his wife decided they couldn’t stop what they had started, Klosky said.
“That was 12 years ago,” he said. “They didn’t stop it, so, we’re still doing it.”
Klosky, who flew missions aboard Lockheed’s U2 reconnaissance aircraft, spoke a bit about the history of the Stearman biplane as he stood near one of the 80-year-old aircraft parked on the airport apron.
The “PT” stands for primary trainer and during World War II the plane was used to train pilots, who would eventually advance to faster and bigger aircraft.
“In World War II, every pilot who flew P-51s, B-17s, whatever would have started on a PT something,” Klosky said. “A lot were the PT-17s.”
According to Klosky, while the Stearman PT-17s were used to train America’s pilots for war, they were never used for actual combat.
“But they sent all of our kids into combat,” he said. “And after the war, it found commercial viability as a cropduster and a barnstormer, which is pretty much what we’re doing. We’re barnstorming now. We pop in and give rides.”
The plane is probably the “most prevalent warbird out there from World War II,” Klosky said.
“So, there’s a lot of people who know how to maintain it and take care of it,” he said.
For more information about Dream Flights, visit the organization’s website at dreamflights.org.
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