Eddie Stinson

[Paddles_up]

OK smarties....
Who taught Eddie Stinson to fly? :smirk: :confus_2:
:windsock: :pilot_2:

[skygirl2003]

In 1914, just as the Great World War broke open in Europe, Katherine Stinson, sister of the founder of the Stinson Aircraft Company, brought her plane to Muskogee on a barnstorming tour. She made a good landing in the center of a small race track but the ground was so soft she could not take off. Borum and his partner were hired to take the plane apart so it could be shipped out by rail.


However, that first contact was not the enthusiastic spark which set his desire to associate himself with aviation. That came in 1917 when he decided to give up his general store enterprise and enlist in the army. Borum admitted he knew nothing about the military, what service or what branch might suit him the best; but the father of a friend persuaded him to join the aviation section of the Army's Signal Corps. The friend's father helped develop the Rio Grande Valley and knew something of the Signal Corps' border patrol activities. Mr. Hill took young Borum to San Antonio and introduced him to Capt. Hubert H. Harmon who was enlisting aviation recruits.


Borum was inducted as a private and sent to the University of Texas in Austin for cadet ground training and then back to San Antonio and Kelly Field for his flight training. He graduated with his wings and a second lieutenant's commission in 1918.

The new army officer remained at Kelly as a flight instructor for the war's duration. Eddie Stinson, brother of Katherine, convinced Borum to stay in the service and get his regular commission. After Armistice, he was put in charge of the flying program at Love Field in Dallas, and later at Ellington Field, Houston.


Now as a firm believer in the possibilities of both civilian and military aviation, Borum was one of the lucky ones and got his commission in the regular army. Thereafter, he received command of the 20th Squadron of the 1st Day Bombardment Group stationed at Ellington and subsequently moved back to Kelly Field with the unit.


One of the most memorable events of his career occurred in 1921 when he took part in Gen. Billy Mitchell's famous task force which bombed battleships anchored in Chesapeake Bay. Borum viewed the entire historic episode from the trailing aircraft he piloted.


In 1923 Borum received an assignment that set the pattern for the rest of his aviation career. He was sent to Buffalo, New York, as a representative of the military's War Plans Division. The Buffalo district was one of the most important in the country since it included the industrial areas New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. His job was to survey all manufacturing concerns in the region and determine their production potential in the event of another multinational conflict.


After three years of working closely with all facets of industrial production, Borum took a tour of duty with the 4th Observation Group and 72nd Bombardment Squadron at Luke Field in Hawaii. Then in 1929 he was ordered to Chanute Field, Illinois to serve as commanding officer of the headquarters squadron and as supply officer for the entire airfield. But he was soon back in industrial planning which was by now his proper sphere of activity. At his next installation, Wright Field, Ohio, Borum helped develop products which the air corps needed. He worked first with the field service section and later with the equipment branch which he headed. During this period he was instrumental in the development of many experimental aviation equipment items that became the accepted standard during World War II.


In 1938 Borum took a brief respite from normal activities and enrolled as a student officer in the Army Industrial College, Washington, D.C.. He graduated from the school in June 1939.


Then in January 1940 Borum became Chief of Field Services Section, Materiel Division, Wright Field. The section had responsibility for the operation of four continental depots comprising the depot structure at the outbreak of the Second War. But to meet the needs of the times, the depot structure had to be enlarged by establishing new depots. Gen. H.H. “Hap” Arnold, head of the army's air corps, and Gen. O.P. Echols, head of the air materiel command, told Borum in mid 1940 they wanted to establish a new depot in the middle west to compliment the ones scheduled for southern Alabama and central Georgia. Oklahoma Senator Elmer Thomas suggested Oklahoma City be considered for such a depot and asked Borum to visit the site on his inspection tour. City leaders played host to the Borum delegation and vigorously lobbied for the military installation that would bring economic benefits to the entire state. After selection of Oklahoma City as the site for the Midwest Air Depot, many people felt that the regional loyalty of Fritz Borum had a lot to do with their good fortune.


During 1941 he also served as commander of the 50th Transport Wing--the first such wing in . . .

Ooops! Sorry, dispatcher . . . :frown_2:

[Paddles_up]

OK...now which one instructed Eddie?

[skygirl2003]

Now you just had to go and ask that, didn't you dispatcher? I'll get back to you . . . :frown_2:

[Paddles_up]

skygirl I'll give you a hint.
This person received thier airman's certificate from one of the Wright Brother's.

[skygirl2003]

Thanks, dispatch! Checking into it . . . :smile_2:

[skygirl2003]

Was it Roderick L. Wright? :ooo:

[Paddles_up]

It was virtually unheard of in those days! His big sister taught him to fly! :grin:

his big sister (http://www.nasm.edu/nasm/aero/women_aviators/marjorie_stinson.htm)

OK next question(s)

Which company did Eddy purchase?
What famous aircraft did the former company manufacture? :windsock: :pilot_2:

[skygirl2003]

Dang! I'm going upstairs to The Bar for a good stiff one . . . :frown_2:

[Paddles_up]

I think I'll join ya!

JB and diet coke for me please!

<as Studley says...one tequilla...two tequilla...three tequilla...floor!>

[skygirl2003]

I'll take the strongest drink you have, Bartender. And make it a double . . . Hell, make it a triple!! . . . :laugh:

[skygirl2003]

Katherine was my first thought, but it seemed too obvious. Oh well.

Eddie Stinson founded the Stinson Aircraft Corporation in Detroit, Michigan and, in 1926, introduced the Stinson Detroiter, a rugged monoplane with sophisticated features for the time: a heated, sound-proof cabin, wheel brakes, and a starter. In 1928, the Stinson Aircraft Company produced the SM-2 Junior, a three-to four-place high-wing cabin monoplane for corporate and private use. In 1929, Stinson merged with E.L. Cord and the Cord Corporation for more secure financial backing. This merger allowed Stinson to offer its aircraft at lower prices and still develop new designs, the 1931 Model W and the 1932 Model R-2/3 series, the direct forebears of the famous Reliant series.


If I'm wrong again, I'm really going to The Bar and get totally blasted off my ass! :frown_2:

[skygirl2003]

Stinson aircraft, named after Eddie Stinson, at the time of the105 design, 1939, was part of Aviation Manufacturing Corporation. ??

[Studley]

In reply to:<hr />
Which company did Eddy purchase?



1931: Controlling interest in Stinson Aircraft was sold to Errett Cord. Cord merges Stinson with AVCO (Aviation Corp.) making Stinson a division of the Aviation Manufacturing Corp., a subsidiary of AVCO. This gives Stinson capital to develop new designs and have more secure financial backing.

1932: Eddie Stinson was killed while demonstrating the newest model of the SR-10 Reliant in Chicago. He stalled and crashed head on into a house from a very low altitude.

The Reliant was a commercial transport, and I believe that this answers 'Spatcher's question on what the important aircraft was that the company made. Here's a link showing one in a museum, in AA livery.

http://www.eaa231.org/Museum/StinsonSR10G/StinsonSR10G.htm

1940: Stinson and Vultee merge as Vultee-Stinson Division within AVCO. The Reliants are built as AT-19's for the military, and sent overseas on Lend-Lease.

1943: Vultee acquires Consolidated forming Consolidated-Vultee (Convair). Stinson remains a division within the new company.

1948: Convair sells Stinson Division to Piper. Piper, in 1962, then sold inventory and rights of this to Univair, which makes replacement parts for many discontinued general aviation aircraft.

[Paddles_up]

Some of Katherine's accomplishments:

Fourth woman in the world to qualify for pilots certificate

First night skywriter

First woman to execute the Loop-the Loop

First person to execute a snap roll on top of the loop

First woman to own a flying school anywhere in the world

First woman to fly U.S. Airmail

First woman to fly in Japan and China

First woman to fly alone at night

Only woman to enlist as a pilot in WWI.Trained WWI fighter pilots from U.S. and Canada

Raised $2 million for the American Red Cross by flying

First nonstop flight from San Diego to San Francisco

Focused international attention on San Antonio, contributing significantly to its development as a center of aviation

Created the first airport in San Antonio (now known as Stinson Field)

[Paddles_up]

Katherine's bio:

Truly a pioneer in aviation, Katherine changed peoples ideas about womens roles in society.

Katherine Stinson was born on Valentines Day, February 14, 1891 in Fort Payne, Alabama. Executing breath-taking stunts in mid-air wasnt Katherines first passion though. From early on, she yearned to travel to Europe to study music so that one day, she could return to America and become a great piano instructor. Because her family was not exactly wealthy, Katherine would have to find a way to pay for the trip herself. Upon reading a newspaper article, she discovered that pilots all over America were earning up to $1,000 a day putting on air shows. At the ripe age of 20, Katherine Stinson was given her first chance to ride in an airplane. Although Stinsons first flight was short-lived (20 minutes), she knew what she wanted to do next. She solo'd with ONLY 4 hours of instruction. :shocked: :windsock: :pilot_2: