Edward Stinson
Edward Anderson "Eddie" Stinson (born July 11, 1893 in Fort Payne , † January 26, 1932 near Chicago ) was an American pilot, aircraft designer and founder of the Stinson Aircraft Company . At the time of his death in an aircraft accident, he was considered the world's most experienced pilot with 16,000 flight hours .
Life
Stinson was born the third child to Edward Anderson Stinson, Sr. and his wife Katherine. Edward had two sisters, Katherine and Marjorie , and brother Jack. Katherine was the fourth American to obtain a license in 1912 at the age of 21. She bought a Wright Model B and flew demonstrations at air days, and was the first woman to take an official airmail flight. Marjorie learned to fly in 1914 at the Wright flight school run by Howard Rinehart, who later became Dayton-Wright's chief pilot . Eddie Stinson also took a few lessons in this flying school in 1915.
In October 1915, the two sisters founded a flight school in San Antonio (Texas), where on December 29 of the same year Stinson received his license with the graduates of the first course. Here he also worked as a flight instructor. He set his first endurance flight record on December 29th and 30th, 1921, when he circled over Roosevelt Field on Long Island with a Larsen JL-6 for 26 hours . With the same model, Stinson also carried out the first non-stop night flight between Chicago and New York on July 26, 1923.
After the first Ford Reliability Tour in 1925, Stinson approached two acquaintances who were on the Detroit Board of Commerce organizing the tour and presented them with plans for a new aircraft. With their assured support, Stinson founded the Stinson Airplane Syndicate . After other well-known Detroit businessmen invested in the new company, workshop space was rented and construction of the first aircraft began. After the sale of this machine and the inflow of further capital, Stinson founded the Stinson Aircraft Corporation on May 2, 1926 .
After that, the company made a few more successful models, so in 1931 Stinson could claim that 75% of all American four-seat cabin aircraft and 70% of all American commercial aircraft were manufactured by his plant. On a sales tour for the new Stinson Model R , Stinson had to make an emergency landing with three potential buyers on board on January 25, 1932 due to a lack of fuel on the shores of Lake Michigan . As he approached, he brushed against a flagpole of the Jackson Park golf course. All passengers were injured in the crash. Stinson was still able to go to a hospital on his own, but where he collapsed and died the next morning without having regained consciousness.
literature
- John Wegg: General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors , Putnam Aeronautical, 1990, ISBN 0-85177-833-X , p. 116 f.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Donald M. Pattillo: A History in the Making: 80 Turbulent Years in the American General Aviation Industry . P. 10
- ↑ The Board of Commerce hosted the first Ford Reliability Tour
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stinson, Edward |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Stinson, Edward Anderson; Stinson, Eddie |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American pilot, aircraft designer, and entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 11, 1893 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fort Payne |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 26, 1932 |
| Place of death | near Chicago |