Bargain Buys on AircraftForSale: 1947 Stinson 108-2

Jason McDowell — Thu, 23 May 2024 15:06:12 +0000

Today’s bargain blends vintage charm with massive flexibility in a package that is as comfortable touring weekend fly-ins as it is exploring remote backcountry destinations. First flown in 1944, the Stinson 108 was developed as a robust, four-place taildragger with a steel tube fuselage and fabric covering. This particular example sports a metalized wing, eliminating expensive wing fabric replacement down the road, and is available for $45,000 on AircraftForSale.

Stinsons have the reputation of being well-mannered taildraggers. Compared to the relatively short-coupled Piper Pacers, for example, they are easy to manage during takeoff and landing. Crosswind handling is helped by the smaller vertical stabilizer of the -2 version, which is less prone to weathervaning. The main landing gear features actual shock absorbers with damping to prevent a springboard effect during firm touchdowns.

With a 165-horsepower Franklin six-cylinder engine up front, this Stinson has more power than most comparable Cessna 170s or Piper Pacers, with a throaty growl to boot. While less common than Continentals or Lycomings, a number of companies provide replacement parts. Franklin owners have overwhelmingly positive feedback about their engines, cautioning only that maintenance should be reserved for mechanics with an intimate knowledge of the type.

READ MORE: Stinson 108

This Stinson and its engine are both relatively low-time, with 2,400 hours on the airframe and only 595 hours since major overhaul (SMOH) on the engine. The striking paint is reportedly in good condition, and the airplane includes a matching set of wheel pants. The interior upholstery and carpet look to be in correspondingly good condition, ready to make a great first impression on any passengers.

This Stinson 108 is priced at nearly half the going rate for comparable Cessna 170s and is available for $45,000 on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

The post Bargain Buys on AircraftForSale: 1947 Stinson 108-2 appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

This Incredible Pilot: Katherine Stinson

Amy Wilder — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 16:13:41 +0000

When we think of pioneer women aviators, there are a few names that stand out: Jacqueline

“Jackie” Cochran, Bessie Coleman, and Amelia Earhart among them. Each owns a unique story and particular accomplishments for which they areremembered. Others who set records in their time seemed to fade a little into the background of history. One of these pilots is Katherine Stinson.

Stinson, a contemporary of Earhart and the fourth U.S. woman to earn a pilot certificate, established a fair number of records in her day. She invented skywriting by attaching flares to her airplane and writing “CAL” in the California sky in 1915 and made public appearances around the world promoting aviation.

While her aerobatic firsts and endurance records are worthy of respect, some of her “quieter” contributions also continue to influence aviators and aviation today.

Most of us are likely familiar with Stinson airplanes but may not know that Katherine and her mother,

Emma, founded Stinson Aviation Co. in Arkansas in 1913, a precur- sor, at least in name, to her brother Eddie’s Stinson Aircraft Co. She and her mother also founded the Stinson Municipal Airport (KSSF) in San Antonio in 1915 and established a flying school where Katherine’s sister, Marjorie, was a flight instructor.

Stinson, a contemporary of Earhart and the fourth U.S. woman to earn a pilot certificate, established a fair number of records in her day. [Library of Congress]

When civilian pilots were grounded a few years later as the country redi- rected its efforts to World War I, Katherine became the first female U.S. Postal Service pilot, but it was a short-lived occupation after the press erroneously reported she had bested her instructor in a “race” during her training missions.

In 1918, after the Army turned down the Stinson sisters when they tried to volunteer for military service, the “nineteen-year-old girl aviator”— she would have been 26 or 27 but was known for being petite—“…flying in a Curtill [sic] Military Tractor… picked up the contributions to the Red Cross, $100,000,000, at Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, car- rying the checks to Secretary (William G.) McAdoo who received her person- ally on the steps of the United States Treasury in Washington,” according to a photo caption from the American Red Cross archives.

Assuming the caption recorded the right number of zeros (other sources report the total as $2 million), Stinson collected and transported the equiva- lent of $2 billion (or $40 million) in 2023 dollars to McAdoo in her Curtiss for the war effort.

She then went to Europe to serve as an ambulance driver, but a bout of tuberculosis cut her career short.

It was not until 17 years after Stinson’s death in 1977 that the Air Force’s Jeannie Flynn became the first female U.S. fighter pilot—poignant as Stinson had been denied joining the ranks of military aviators so many years before.

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Bargain Buys on AircraftForSale: 1947 Stinson 108-2

This Incredible Pilot: Katherine Stinson