Business & brands / Science & invention
Eddie Stinson
1893–1932 · pilot, aircraft manufacturer
Stunt flyer and record-setting pilot who, backed by Detroit investors, founded the Stinson Aircraft Company, maker of the SB-1 Detroiter, one of the first enclosed-cabin airliners.
- Born
Fort Payne, Alabama- Died
Chicago, Illinois
aged 38- Birth name
- Edward Anderson Stinson Jr.
- Also known as
- Edward Stinson
- Detroit years
- 1920s–1932
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Stinson was born in Alabama in 1893 into a family of early flyers; his sister Katherine was a celebrated aviator, and he learned to fly at the Wright school in 1913. After World War I, when he trained military pilots, he became famous for exhibition races against Barney Oldfield's race car and developed the first practical wheel brakes for airplanes so he could land in tight spaces. In 1921 he set a world endurance record, and in 1922 he came to the Detroit area as test pilot for William Stout's all-metal ST-1 bomber. In 1925 he led a group of Detroit investors in forming the Stinson Aircraft Syndicate; its SB-1 Detroiter first flew in January 1926 and was one of the nation's first enclosed-cabin passenger planes, the start of a successful line of Stinson aircraft. He lived in a large house in Dearborn. In January 1932 he died after an emergency landing in Chicago; he had logged more flying hours than any other pilot in the world.
Highlights
- Founded the Stinson Aircraft Syndicate with Detroit investors, 1925
- SB-1 Detroiter, one of the first U.S. enclosed-cabin airliners, first flew January 25, 1926
- Developed the first practical wheel brakes for airplanes
- World's most experienced pilot at his death, with over 16,000 flying hours