Stearman Biplane, Open cockpit, Taken in-flight, Aviation Wall Art, Paper,Canvas,Metal,and Acrylic options,ideal for Office,Dorm,Living Room

"Stearman BiPlane in-flight"

A long time ago, a young boy stood in amazement as the pilot of an approaching Piper Cub pulled the throttle back to idle and carefully glided the plane over his head and onto the grass runway a few hundred feet beyond the spot where he stood. He immediately went indoors, picked up his sketch pad and began to draw as many versions of the plane as he could find in the latest edition of Flying Magazine purchased for him by his father.

"One day," his father told him, "airplanes will carry many people just like us to faraway places." He often wondered what that would be like - flying aboard an airplane! "Get good grades in school next year, and maybe you will get to fly aboard an airplane one day."

And so he did. It wasn't too long before the boy was attending high school in a small midwest high school. He still carried his sketch pad. By now, he was sketching fighter planes, and thinking about what life must be like for people lucky enough to fly them. He did get good grades in school, just as his father had urged him to do. But the world had changed now. Each night on television news the main stories were about war in a faraway land called Vietnam. He thought about how brave the people fighting the war must have been.

And so it went for the next several years. The boy became a young man, graduating from engineering school and then becoming an Army officer. He served, not in Vietnam, but instead in a different faraway place, Germany. He grew fond of Germany and served more than eight years there. His last duty station in the Army was Ft. Riley, Kansas. As his last tour of duty neared an end, he applied for jobs nearby - he had grown fond of Kansas, too. And wouldn't you know it? He was offered a job at Boeing Military Aircraft Company, in Wichita, Kansas.

At Boeing, he was assigned to work on modernization projects for the B-52 Stratofortress, versions 'G' and 'H'. All earlier versions of the plane had been retired by that time. He learned the rich history of the plane, known amongst airplane people at the 'BUFF.' I'll let you look that up on your own. The B-52 first entered active duty in 1955, and it remains on duty to this day.

That young boy who became a Boeing engineer eventually earned his Private Pilot rating, then a Commercial Pilot with Instrument Rating. He got his first camera around age eight, and even carries a camera today. Yes, he also still carries a sketch pad.

Kindest regards, Larry Rogers (yes, I am the boy in the story and the photographer of this item)