I just keep coming back to this. When I don't want to push buttons. When I don't want to cruise. When I don't want to watch other acft. When I don't want to shoot something down (*grin*). When I just want to fly, and do loops, hammerheads, low passes, skywriting (okay, not real good at that *grin*)... it's Eckert's Stearman for me!It's just plain fun to fly for flying's sake... and a damn fine model to boot!

Addendum: To fly it properly you need a large fan and some sort of ribbon. Place the fan in front of you. Stretch numerous pieces of ribbon edgewise in front of the fan. If you use any kind of realistic weather, have a spray bottle handy (and don't forget the long white scarf!).

I assume you mean David Eckert ;) But other than that, I can only grin and nod, fantastic plane! The updated 450 hp version that was posted a short time ago is interesting as well ...VOlker :]

Yup, I fully agree! Great plane to fly and just look at. Same for the VC.For added enjoyment try the repaint (4 really super liveries)by Leon Louis. Get it here at Avsim (strm_450.zip).Many thanks to Dave Eckert for his wonderful original aircraft package and to Leon Louis for the great repaints.Howard

>I assume you mean David Eckert ;) But other than that, I can>only grin and nod, fantastic plane! The updated 450 hp version>that was posted a short time ago is interesting as well ...I have no idea why I typed "Paul." Next time I fly it, I won't use castor oil in the spray bottle I guess.

I agree 100% as well, that's why I chose it (David's Stearmans) as one of my 30 best aircraft downloads for FS2002!Bear!

Yes, as I say it its like driving a motocycle in the sky, I love it and have alot of fun flying it during the summer.... for real :-)

The Stearman was my first ride so I still have special feelings about it. I completely agree that this is a fine representation of the old bird. Unfortunately I had to take it off my hard drive. Everything worked fine for a couple of days and I thoroughly enjoyed flying the old bipe. Then suddenly it began hanging up my computer. Each time I selected the stearman from the aircraft menu my computer would lock up hard. I couldn't even reboot and had to remove power from the computer each time.Now I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Eckert's files, mind you. Any file can get corrupted on a computer and cause problems. I just wondered if anyone else has had this kind of problem and what they did about it. I'd sure like to download and install it again but hesitate to do that on a 56K modem if I am just going to repeat the problems.It sure is beautiful work, though, and I'd love to enjoy it.Dewey

I occasionaly have a similar problem when loading the Stearman. In my case I can do a warm boot (press restart button on computer) to get the computer started again. Fortunately it doesn't happen often and I still fly it a lot. Fantastic fs2002 plane! I had the same problem with another (don't remember which). Have you tried to reinstall it after deleting it? After reading your post I reinstalled the gauges from the download to see if that helps. It will take a few days to be sure, but I'll post a message if I find it works.Hope this helps. Lets see what other have found.Howard

You guys should check out Leon Louis' 450HP variation of Dave's Stearman. I just did, and WOW! The increased power REALLY enables you to do loops and lots of aerobatic maneouvers. Very fun aircraft! Additionally, the trim has been enabled on this version too.

You should have no problem doing loops in the regular stearman, start your dive and increase speed to about 120 knots, then gently pull the stick back, and then once your at the top push it forward to rounden the loop up. But beware, the stearman that we own does not have fuel and oil injection so you cannot stay upside down for too long.

>You guys should check out Leon Louis' 450HP variation of>Dave's Stearman. I just did, and WOW! The increased power>REALLY enables you to do loops and lots of aerobatic>maneouvers. Very fun aircraft! Additionally, the trim has been>enabled on this version too.This is the one we're talking about, Todd.

I too love this plane! However, when I did the update to 450 hp., the computer locked up. Many attempts to repair this failed. Reinstalled the original files, everything is good again. It appears the upgrade does not like my computer.

BTW, for you who do not know, there is a patch at Eckerts site for the original plane causing crashing computers at times. The address is in the readme file.

Thanks for the info about the patch - I'm off to get it now.Howard