Crow,
I am 6' 2" and about 230; the Ryan was too small for me. It also has a limiteed pilot/passenger load and relatively "short legs". With my head sticking up above the windscreens, I kept getting smacked in the forehead with the big bugs.
I ended up owning a Fairchild for 13 years. I loved it; a superb airplane for plain old fun. Probably the best tailwheel trainer I could ever have picked for introducing my sons to flying.
I lost my medical in 2002 and went through appeals without luck. So, I sold it in 2003; after that the FAA wrote me and said they thought I might be able to get it back. Gotta love it... then this currently unresolved kidney cancer thing popped up. I'll just have to see how it all plays out. The medical is not my major concern right now.
Anyway, the guy I sold it to lets me go flying with him anytime I want to, so it's OK. He let me fly it for two hours in July... jeez, that was sweet.
Habu, at one time we had 4 PT-19's in the family. Parts aren't that bad and they are an extremely simple aircraft to work on.
At present, my brother has a freshly-restored Fairchild in Lincoln, NE for sale. He's a US Air pilot and they're in bankruptcy for the second or tenth time or something. This airplane has about 25 hours on it out of restoration. It was taken down to the very last nut and bolt. It has a fullyl rebuilt center section, the wings have been totally redone, the engine built up by a very experienced builder that did all our engines.
If you want to fly it, let me know.
Trust me on this... don't buy a Stearman until you fly a Fairchild. Fairchilds have torque tube/ball bearing control connections. The only "cable control" on a Fairchild is the elevator trim. You will be amazed at the difference in control pressures in a Stearman and a Fairchild. You can literally fly a trimmed Fairchild using one finger on top of the stick. Second, the view is OUTSTANDING. Third, without doubt, the Fairchild is the best crosswind aircraft of the three US trainers. Check out the size of the vertical stab and rudder. Fourth, Fairchilds are WAY cheaper than Stearmans. Fifth, if you are 6'7", you are going to be cramped in the back seat of a Stearman and amazed at how much room you have in a Fairchild. Also, if you want to go cross country, a Fairchild has a 3 hour range with an hour of reserve. Both the Ryan and Stearman are about 1.5 with a .5 hour reserve. That's been a big comfort to me a few times when the weather got dicey.
Fly both before you buy... you'll be amazed at how good a Fairchild flies. And for far less money.
This was my aircraft:
I owned 33; that's me in the front and my Dad in the back. Dad trained in Fairchilds in 1942.
50 was my brother's first Fairchild; it's already sold. He's in the front and his old squadron CO is in the back. My brother flew 50 while the other one was being restored. The restoration was done by the fellow (IA) that restored my aircraft from a pile of parts in someone's back yard.
