Plane owners custodians of aviation history

By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on August 2, 2022.

Herald photo by Justin Seward Gordon Lowe stands on the wing of the 1943 Stearman PT-17 that him and Darryl Wolter have owned since 2018.

Darryl Wolter and Gordon Lowe attended the Lethbridge International Airshow over the weekend as co-owners of a 2005 Maule M7 235c and a restored 1943 Stearman PT-17 that they bought in 2018.

“It was originally a trainer for the U.S. Army,” said Wolter, on the 1943 Stearman.

“After the war it was surplused and sold to the general public and became a spray plane and it did that for quite a few years of its life. Then eventually it was converted back in civilian use and it’s had a few civilian owners since then and completely restored in 2000. We’ve flown its since about 2018.”

Wolter initially found the aircraft through a mutual friend in Palm Springs

“I think to be a steward of a bit of history and to …. experience an airplane from that generation – from the 1940s essentially ,” said Wolter.

“Most of those airplanes in those years were military airplanes. But just to own something from that generation of aircraft.”

The most rewarding part of flying both planes is participating in airshows.

“And having it on display is wonderful and they’re a beautiful flying airplanes,” he said.

“Aerodynamically, it’s a very pleasurable airplane to fly. There’s always a lot of interest in the airplane. Wherever we go, people are generally interested in what it is, where’s it’s from, what kind of history it had.”

“And you’re out in the elements. You have to dress appropriately and you have great visibility in all directions,” he said.

Lowe has been in aviation since 1975 and sees him and Wolter being the custodians of the Stearman.

“We want to keep it alive and keep it in good health for a number of years and then we’ll pass it on to somebody else. Hopefully they’ll do the same thing,” said Lowe.

“It’ll be 80 years old next year. It’s been around for quite a while. I enjoy flying it – it’s really fun to fly – but I really enjoy working on it.”

Lowe bought the Maule in 2008 and Wolter was interested in buying half of the plane and it was later on that Lowe was convinced to buy a Stearman with his former fellow charter operator.

The flight to get the Stearman back to Canada from Palm Springs was 18 air hours and 11 stops for gas.

“They’re not readily available,” said Lowe, on being co-owner of both.

“There’s not a lot of them around. Maule is a family operation in Georgia. They don’t build many of these airplanes. It never fails, every year I get people wanting to buy it and I don’t want to sell it. They’re a sought-after airplane and the Stearman is too.”