i said yes, even though i didn't know what a steerman was. >> the steerman, he learns, is a treasured world war ii biplane. >> it was used to train first-time pilots. a lot of them are flown by barnstorming pilots. they are revered by those pilots the way some people love a model t or the little deuce coupe. they're restored, they're cared for. >> the steerman ashley is to ride in is owned by michael trushell, who performs with the flying circus in northern virginia. >> we're going to simulate a strafing and bombing run. >> we replicated an act that was done in the '30s and '40s. >> six shots, down comes the bomb. yes! >> i fly there just for fun. it's my excuse to go out on sundays and fly in circles. the beginning of the show, we do formation flying. we'll do comedy acts. i did what's called a balloon shoot. >> he is to fly the steerman in an event promoting a 3-d film on flying. ashley halsey decides this is the perfect time to try out a camera he's just bought. >> the camera was new to me. i played with it so that i knew how to start it and stop it with relative confidence. >> not

and today we'll talk about the boeing steerman. it had different numbers depending on the service it was in, whether it was in the navy or whether it was in the air force. it could be a pt 13, or 7-pt extensive it -- 17, if it was in the army air corps. and the navy called them the yellow peril, and mainly because it can be a handful of an airplane for the first airplane you're learning to fly. but to set you up for progressions down the road in more complicated airplanes. but this airplane, among other types, basically taught all the military aviators, and many never saw an airplane, and the first plane they saw was the boeing spearman. the reason they use this airplane is because it's very basic. mostly made out of wood. and held together by steel flying wires and then covered in a fabric back then which was a cotton fabric, and then with like a dope-type material. there is modern stuff they have on them the make them last longer. the reason they made tens of thousands and there are only several hundred of them today. was because