As a captain for Hawaiian Airlines, Bruce Clements flies jumbo jets to exotic destinations such as Tahiti, Australia, Samoa and the Philippines, but some of his most memorable flights have been in vintage two-seat planes that he pilots for his Oahu tour business, Stearman Biplane Rides.

Clements has dropped sky divers upside down from 3,500 feet above ground. Three of his passengers enjoyed their ride so much, they each subsequently bought a Stearman and learned how to fly it.

Then there was the young man who booked a tour for himself and his girlfriend. Clements and another pilot took the couple up at the same time in different planes. During the flight, the man held up a sign that read, “;Will you marry me?”; His sweetheart said yes.

Clements first flew a Stearman 38 years ago, when he was earning his commercial pilot license at a flight school in San Diego.

“;The school had one that could be rented, and that's how I got to fly it,”; he recalled. “;I fell in love with it!”;

From that point, one of his dreams was to own and operate a biplane tour business. That came true in 1992 when he opened Stearman Biplane Rides at Dillingham Airfield, a small airstrip that lies in the shadow of the Waianae mountain range on Oahu's northwest coast.

Air traffic on Dillingham's 1.75-mile runway is limited to daytime recreational use by sailplanes, helicopters and single-engine, light twin-engine and ultralight aircraft.

For his five tours, Clements uses a bright yellow Navy N2S Stearman that dates back to 1941 and a PT-17 Stearman with yellow wings and a blue fuselage that the Army put in service in 1940. He purchased the N2S in Tampa, Fla., in 1990, and the PT-17 in Vancouver, Canada, in 1997.

“;The N2S had been restored and was ready to fly when I bought it,”; Clements said. “;The PT-17 had not been flown in at least 25 years, and only about 40 percent of it was intact. I'm a licensed aviation maintenance mechanic, and it took me over a year of 14-hour workdays to restore it. I do the maintenance work for the two planes myself.”;

  CLEMENTS' PLANES are among the more than 10,000 Stearmans that were built in the U.S. during the 1930s and 1940s to train military pilots. Former President George H.W. Bush, who served as a combat pilot in World War II, first soloed in a Stearman in December 1942.

He was just 18 at the time, the youngest aviator in the Navy to receive his wings.

Equipped with controls in both seats, the open-cockpit Stearman is 24 feet long, stands 9 feet tall and has a wingspan of 32 feet. It was nicknamed the “;Yellow Peril,”; supposedly referring to it being a hazard when a novice was flying it.

When World War II ended in 1945, thousands of surplus Stearmans were sold to civilians, who used them primarily for aerial shows and as crop dusters, which is what Clements' planes were before he bought them. Today about 1,000 Stearmans are still being flown throughout the world.

The aircraft's history adds an element of nostalgia to Clements' tours.

“;All of the rides are really fun, but some people are more interested in history and others just want to enjoy Oahu's beautiful scenery,”; he said. “;The adventurous ones choose the Aerobatics Tour. No matter how nervous they are, they all break into smiles when we take off.”;

Clements considers the Stearman to be the Harley-Davidson of airplanes.

“;The kind of flying I do on my tours is not transportation,”; he said.

“;It's the pure joy of being in the air. Riding a Harley is all about freedom; you're cruising long stretches of highway simply for the love and excitement of it. That's what flying in a Stearman is like.”;

Although the biplane can accelerate to a top cruising speed of 124 miles per hour, Clements usually maintains a speed of 85 miles per hour and an altitude of 1,500 feet for every tour except Aerobatics, which he performs 2,000 feet in the air and at speeds ranging from 55 to 120 miles per hour, depending on the maneuver.

  An intercom system allows him to converse with his passenger, but, as you might expect, not much talking goes on when he's executing thrilling loops, rolls, hammerheads, Cuban 8's and split S's.

“;We wear parachutes, which are required by the FAA, and two seat belts, one attached to the seat and the other to the aircraft frame, so we're very secure,”; Clements said. “;Contrary to what you might think, it's not the gut-wrenching maneuvers that are done by planes in air shows. Rather, the maneuvers I do are slow and smooth, making it easier for the passenger to stay oriented.”;

Even those who are leery about riding in a single-engine plane can board the Stearman with confidence.

“;It's a large, strong and stable aircraft that provides a comfortable ride,”; Clements said. “;You don't get the feeling that you're bouncing all over in a tin can.”;

Sitting in the Stearman's open cockpit is an experience that you can't get in another plane.

“;You have unrestricted visibility, you feel the wind on your face, you even catch a whiff of pineapples growing in the fields in Wahiawa,”; Clements said. “;I think flying in a biplane is the closest you can get to flying like a bird!”;