Eddie Stinson left school in 1910, at age 16, and set out on his own heading for St Louis, where he heard of two men building an airplane — quite an novelty in those days. There, with youthful exuberance, he conviced the men that he should be their pilot since neither of them had any flying experience. He did, however, neglect to mention that he, as well, had never even seen an airplane before, let alone fly one.

Once the kitelike contraption was finished, it was towed into a farmer’s pasture where the boy took the controls and started off on his solo flight. In a cloud of blue smoke, the plane lurched forward, and either with a timely gust of wind or a bump in the ground, it sprang into the air, soared momentarily, then sank back to earth with a crunch that collapsed one of its wings. While its distance was measured in feet, and its altitude not much above the tall grass, the flight was declared a success.

As payment, the builders gave Stinson the aircraft and went on to other ventures, and the boy was allowed to keep his plane in the pasture, plus room and board, in return for helping the owner with farm chores. In time, the plane was repaired, and a second flight proved conclusively that Stinson was no ace pilot when it was reduced to kindling on its second "landing."

Working locally, he managed to save up $500, enough for flight instruction at the Wright’s school in Dayton. After graduation, he began the life of a barnstormer, finally ending up in San Antonio, where he established a base of operations with sister Marjorie, the Stinson School for Aviation. In 1917 and 1918 they trained Army pilots at nearby Kelly Field, for which Eddie received a lieutenant’s commission.

Quick to seize an opportunity, at war’s end he and a friend flew two surplus Army planes to Newport News, where they offered rides to disembarking soldiers — they had seen airplanes overhead in France, but not close up — at $10, and in a few weeks earned a small fortune. After that episode, he worked in the East as test pilot and mechanic, and in 1920 bought the Dixie Flying Field in Birmingham to start another flight school. After a marriage and numerous meandering careers, he finally chose Detroit as his new home, and concentrated his flying activities there.

He convinced a group of Detroit businessmen to invest in his idea of an aircraft company, and thus was the Stinson Airplane Syndicate formed in 1925. There he designed and buit the first cabin plane with an electric starter, a heater, wheel brakes and — best of all — flight stability, the hallmark of Stinsons to come.

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