Late on the evening of........

July of 2010 I was looking at Barnstormers website and came across a 1931 Fleet Model 7 open cockpit biplane. The interesting thing about this particular Fleet was the fact that it had been converted from the original 125 or 145 horsepower Kinner radial engine to a 220 Continental radial engine. Since I live in Colorado the extra horsepower would be a great benefit. In addition to that the airplane was licensed as a Standard/Normal category airplane. The bigger engine was done by the use of a 337 form. At the time I owned a 1945 Stampe open cockpit biplane. The Stampe was licensed as an Experimental Exhibition category airplane. It was indeed a manufactured airplane, not a homebuilt, however it was built in France and never certified in the USA. There are many restrictions with an Experimental Exhibition category airplane such as it can not be used to "sell" rides. Whereas a Standard/Normal category does not have as many restrictions on how it can be used. The fact that the Fleet was a 1931 vintage also appealed to me. The 1930's were considered the "Golden Age" of aviation.

The advertisement in Barnstormers indicated that the seller (Aubie Pearman) would be willing to trade so I sent him an email, the rest is history. Aubie, and the Fleet were located in Mississippi. One of us were going to have to fly a long ways in an open cockpit. As it turned out Aubie had a friend in Wichita and I did too. We made an agreement to meet at my friends (Chuck Asbury) home/airstrip just north of Wichita on the evening of July 26th, 2010. We would make our trade and each fly our respective airplanes home. It turned out to be a great plan! The following pictures were those that I received prior to our meeting in Wichita:

Click here to link to pictures of the trade