About Princess Belle...
The airplane was wrecked in May, 1941 when flight cadet J. K. Stewart fell out of the cockpit while in flight. He successfully opened his parachute and survived to tell the tale. The airplane was repaired and returned to illustrious service for several years.
After 60 years, Princess Belle was expertly and professionally restored with a no-expenses-barred approach to better than new perfection by the prestigious Air Repair facility, run by Pete Jones, world renown Stearman expert. True to the restoration mission, Princess Belle has earned top honors in every show including Sun-n-Fun. She has been described a the finest PT-17 ever built by Boeing, Stearman or anyone else.
Featured by CNN, the BBC of London and many national and international magazines. This is truly one of the best-looking Stearmans in the world. The Magnificently detailed nose art fit for a museum and winner of many awards was commissioned to world renown artist Chris Cruz.