Looking for my Grandfathers Boeing N2S-3 Kaydet.....

[cwleveck]

So I have started a search for a fabled airplane that my Father and his siblings told us stories about. I have been hearing them since I was a small child. All about the Big Yellow Biplane Grandpa bought after the war....
I know it was a Navy model PT-17 Kaydet. I saw a couple photos of it when I was VERY young. I know it was all yellow, not the blue and yellow but other than that just my Granfathers name, Wesley C Leveck and I believe it was kept in the Aurora or Peoria Illinois area and he would have owned it for a brief period in the 50's.
Does the FAA keep a record of all aircraft registrations that I can request or is there a way to search the data base here for these kind of records?
Is there a way for me to send an email to current registered Kaydet owners to see if I can find it that way?
My Father and his best friend are currently actively looking to buy a PT-17. I briefly discussed trying to find Grandpas plane and I think if nothing else he would like to know where it is but as of now he thinks figuring this out without even a tail number is so unlikely it's not even worth discussing.
I've had enough dealings with the FAA to know that they love their paperwork and someone probably has something but I know the worst person to try and ask is the wrong person at the FAA.
Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated and I will bide my time going through this website.
Can't believe I haven't come across airport data before but I am very glad I did.
My wife won't be after she finds out I've been on it constantly for the next couple of months instead of getting my work done, but at least I am not looking at smut.....
Thank you again for any help you can give me,
Christopher