John Henderson
President of Henderson Aviation
N1222N
Now modeling in Switzerland
Henderson Aviation Projects
1942 Stearman Bi-Plane Restoration Project
We have finished restoring this vintage Stearman Bi-plane, operated from the early years of Henderson Aviation Company. This particular airplane was originally used as a Navy trainer, which former President George Bush Sr. flew in his pilot training days. The ambitious project began seven years ago.
In late spring of 1990, Charles "Herb" Henderson was contacted by Mary Jones, Executive Director of the National Biplane Association. " Mr. Henderson, do you still own a Stearman with the N-number 1222N? Are you aware President Bush flew this plane while in the Navy?" And so the seed was planted that started a six year odyssey in biplane restoration.
N1222N started its flying career November 4, 1942 when the U.S. Navy took delivery of BuAerNo 07178, as the biplane was originally known. Over the years, the biplane was assigned to Minneapolis, Minnesota, Norfolk, Virginia, Glenview, Illinois, and Corpus Christi, Texas. It was while the biplane was in Minneapolis that President George Bush had flown the aircraft in training.
On August 31, 1947, BuAerNo 07178 was stricken from the U.S. Navy records and sold through the R.F.C. (Reconstruction Finance Corporation), an agency designated by the Surplus Property Board of the U.S. Government to dispose of surplus property.
Shortly thereafter, a young pilot named Charles "Herb" Henderson, working for Livingston Air Service, traveled to Provo, Utah, and flew the plane, known as N1222N, back to Oregon. Herb flew the biplane 10,000 hours crop dusting and, in 1963, he bought Livingston Air Service and renamed it Henderson Aviation Company. Five years later, in 1968, Herb Henderson retired the aircraft and had it dismantled and placed into storage.
Two years after Mary Jones had contacted Charles "Herb" Henderson, the decision was made to restore the historical aircraft. Today, John Henderson, Herb's son, is the president of Henderson Aviation Company. John Henderson allocated the resources and encouraged the completion of the restoration project. A team of Henderson Aviation employees and Doug Rebbin, of Albany, finished the project in late 1998. On January 11, 1999, the Standard Airworthiness Certificate was issued for N1222N. At the end of January 2005, N1222N made its final flight with Henderson Aviation, and was sold to a gentleman in Switzerland.