Growing up in the 1960 era, we ran a county airport in Cameron County lTexas in the lower valley, we had one of the stensons there, and dad called it the station wagon
Barry, 15.11.2016 14:39
Two basic models the 105 (277 built) and the Model 10 (775 built), although after the war the Model 10 was developed as the Model 108
Spec 105 Power plant 1 x 75 hp Continental A-75-3 air cooled flat four.
Accommodation 1 pilot and 2 passengers.
Span 34'0" Length 22'2" Height 6'6" Wing area 155 sq ft Empty weight 923 lb Gross weight 1,580 lb
Max speed 105 mph Cruising speed 100 mph Range 350 miles Service ceiling 10,500 ft
Chuck Connelly, e-mail, 17.08.2015 03:04
I've owned Two Stinsons.The first was a Voyager 108-2 , small tail, small Franklin engine. The second was a Station Wagon 108-3, large tail, large Franklin. A Former Crop Duster Totally rebuilt recovered with Ceconite?, metal prop added. The prop I had rebent for a cruise prop greatly decreasing fuel consumption,with airspeed increasing to 120/125 mph. The colors on the Station Wagon were Gold with a Black stripe (Pontiac colors) Excelent family transportation ! This plane appeared on a magazine cover (Plane and Pilot ?). My Voyeger was part of a much publicized advertisement campaign (cartoon strip and Radio script) by Eveready Batteries. This depicted an emergancy landing on the front lawn of ARC Radio in Boonton N.J. The Voyager had a Learscope, LF Radio and an OMnigator 11 installed. The only problems was the inconvience of the "Big Tail" of the Station Wagon and it was near impossible to change the rear spark plugs with out removing the Franklin engines. However the engines were found very reliable.
Monty Haskell, e-mail, 10.02.2015 15:16
I owned two 1948 108-3s! They are one of the safest planes one can fly! They will not spin!! You have aileron control though the stall which is not really a stall but more of a falling leaf with NO break over!!! I had the taxi in a cross wind issue due the vertical tail being so large!! (grin)
GREAT AIRPLANES !! Ü
To bad the Stinson family chose to not carry on when Stinson passed away!!
Robert Luther, e-mail, 09.02.2015 04:50
I purchased a basket case 108-3 from a barn after 18 years near Portland, Oregon in early 2001. I have since retired and am completing a total restoration from the bare tubular frame up. One of the real aircraft upholstery experts is installing a beautiful interior and the Franklin engine will be completed soon to new specs. Fabric is Stits and is as near original as can be. i am looking forward to a lot of great flying in NC626C. Robert Luther, Huntsville, Alabama
Bill Brink, e-mail, 18.12.2013 18:56
Bought my 1947 Stinson in the 70s a voyager 108-3 N8123K with a Lycoming engine. Flew out of Melbourne,Fl. Only problem I had was taxing in a high cross wind with that big tail. It was a great plane.
Lou DeSantis, e-mail, 05.01.2013 18:03
Tachicawa AFB Japan "Chofo Aero Club" in 1963 we had Army surplus Stenson L-5s, variable pitch propellers, Lyc.180/190 HP 6 cyl. engines, and wing leading edge slots. Tail Numbers 9881F and 9882F. Fun fling loops, spins, and hang from the prop power-on stalls.
Alain LAFILLE, e-mail, 04.12.2012 22:23
I just bought for restoration the Stinson 108-1 N97844 and I am looking for all information and photos concerning it. Thank you
Bennie Lee, e-mail, 22.10.2012 23:28
My uncle had one they used to make sales runs from RDU to NY. One trip back they some problem at night,just before getting to RDU. They could tell there was a clearing, didn't know what kind, but my other uncle who flew it, put it down and felt something slapping under it and though it was water, it was wheat. He had put it down in a wheat field. That was a long time ago.
Bobby G. Whaley, e-mail, 29.06.2012 16:09
My Dad co-owned N97844. Got his solo in it. Flew a few trips from Ft. Myers, Fla. To Chattanooga, Tenn. Plane was fun and enjoyable. I wonder where it is now.
baxie, 18.06.2011 14:05
Great pic and really takes me back to some wonderful moments which led me into Air Traffic Control for 36 yrs.
R. Keith McClung, e-mail, 21.02.2011 08:40
My old station wagon hauled my little family to many family gatherings from Houston Clover Field back in the mid 60's. And I looked for excuses to fly it to little country airports that had a "good" restaurant on or near the field. It flew easily and was stable but that big old Franklin engine burned a lot of fuel. I couldn't afford to fly it today. I agree the photo is not a Station Wagon.
Joe G, e-mail, 28.01.2011 01:39
I had a Stison 108-3 "flying station wagon" I got my license on it. I will always love that aircraft. You feel you cold get in and out of anywhere with it. My old friend Tom Murphy, who instructed primary training in the 2nd world war and after also thought very highly of it. Eddie Stinson knew what He was doing.
GTB, e-mail, 26.01.2011 17:48
Why are Stinsons so well loved by all generations of pilots? Are they currently easily maintained to current standards?
GTB, e-mail, 26.01.2011 17:48
Why are Stinsons so well loved by all generations of pilots? Are they currently easily maintained to current standards?
Michael Hager, e-mail, 07.01.2011 23:15
We had a flying club at the WV Air National Guard and I learned to fly in it. Obtained my privite in 1956. I was single at the time and about the only one who was able to afford it among the members, who were rasing families. Great pic and really takes me back to some wonderful moments which led me into Air Traffic Control for 36 yrs.
Curt Lindauer, e-mail, 27.11.2010 17:18
I was a Stinson 108-3 owner for 45 years. I sold it last year. I believe I have read every book, article etc about Stinsons. I have never heard of an inverted Franklin in a Stinson or any other aircraft.
Bart Rogers, e-mail, 05.10.2010 23:37
Great picts. I agree with Dennis Goodrich. My brother and I own a Stinson 105-10 which was built in 1940. The L5 was built on the same lines just a bit larger with a bigger engine. I'll be glad to send a photo if you have a way of receiving it.
Bob Kaplan, e-mail, 21.09.2010 18:56
The Stinson Station Wagon and L-5 were two of the airplanes I really enjoyed flying. The L-5 in 1947 and Wagon at Cousins Air, Staten Island Airport, NY when I was going for my Commercial ticket in 1950.
Carl Felty, e-mail, 12.03.2010 00:05
In the middle 60's, my friend, bought 108-3 N935C, in Phoenix. John, whose left arm had been amputated just below the shoulder, had never flown. John was in his forties when I started instructing him in his Stinson. Because of his handicap, we flew together about 20 hours before I felt comfortable soloing him. He did just fine and later got a waiver of "demonstrated ability". He had no restrictions on his license. He later traded his Stinson for a 1956 C182 and still later, got a 1966 C182. John was very active in the Arizona CAP and was credited with several aircraft finds, with lives saved. John succumbed to cancer in June 1994. He was a great friend and we flew many hours together over the next 25 years. Of all my students, I was always most proud of my friend, Johnny Tyler.
Keith Smith, e-mail, 27.02.2010 21:21
I owned a Stinson 108-1 (N97569) for about 20 years. What a great plane! Mine had a 150 HP Franklin and was slow compared to some other planes of the time, but was very stable, hard to stall and spin-proof. The slots at the wing tips allowed a very slow, mushing descent in which there was complete lateral control -- the ailerons never lost their effect. Full flap, power on approaches were STOL-like and the run-out on the runway was very short. A burst of power was required to stop the descent and flare, otherwise, the plane would continue descending and could damage the gear, but I felt that in an emergency one could make a safe landing in a very small footprint and walk away -- the criterion for a successful landing! It was a good cross country plane and I flew several cross-continental flights with the family (four of us). Once trimmed, in smooth air, one could fly for hours with hands off and simply correct course with the rudder. It lacked the ability to get much higher that 10,000 feet in the summer with a max gross load, but that will do in most places in the USA. Eventually, I metalized the plane, but doing so, I felt destroyed the pleasing lines of the fuselage. It is a great old man's plane -- wish I still had it!
Donn Moyer, e-mail, 19.02.2010 02:33
My friemd had a Station Wagon and we flew it from Palmer, Alaska to Merrill Field in Anchorage 1951-53 when we were serving with the USAF stationed at Elmendorf, AFB. I was a staff announcer and dee jay with Armed Forces Radio Service also worked at KFQD. Both Johnny Gorc my late friend and I were living in Palmer as civilians then joined the USAF. My flight training was in a J-3 in Michigan when I was 16. Never got to fly an "airknocker" what a beautiful plane. I have a photo of a beautiful refurbished Voyager I would like to ad to the web site.
Carl Felty, e-mail, 31.01.2010 22:18
I owned 108-1 N97896 in 1966. Got my commercial & CFI in it. The 108,108-1 and 108-2 had the small tail. The 108-3 and Piper Stinson 49 had the tall tail. I liked the Franklin engine. I soloed in a Bell 47D-1 in 68 that had the vertical Franklin. The Stinson in the picture is not a 108 series airplane.
Carl Gerker, e-mail, 08.01.2010 21:23
The aircraft in photo is a Stinson L5 "Sentinel" a derivative of the Stinson 105 Voyager, the Model 10/10A and the HW-75. Having wood wings and tail surfaces with fabric covering. The L-5 was powered by a Lyc O435 engine with a fixed pitch propeller. Some were modified with radial engine after the war. Makes a great tow plane either way.
Bob Hellinger, e-mail, 31.12.2009 21:29
I owned and soloed in a 1947 108-2 in 1957. Had it until 1959. Had been recovered completely in metal. I understand it is still flying in Alaska. Very enjoyable to fly but noisy with the metal "tin can" sound.
Roy Jackson, e-mail, 31.12.2009 18:53
As a new 20 year old licenced pilot 50 years ago, I flew my dad's 1946 Stinson Station Wagon, known for it's wood trimmed cabin. It was a great handling airplane except in cross wind landings. The extreme verticle stablizer made these landings quite a challenge at times. Many happy memories are with me flying with dad in his plane.
Bill Abel, e-mail, 26.10.2009 03:49
I have a Stinson 108-1 and have owned it for the last 21 years or more. It's a flyer, fly's every year, all year and has the Franklin 165 exchanged for original 150hp. Franklin engine is an opposed 6 cyl. and "inverted" doesn't apply. That applies to inline engines for "inverted" and "right side-up" CFI and A&P PS I used to fly a Bell 47 helicopter that had a Franklin and those engines were VO or vertically opposed engines. They stood on end. PSS I agree with others, This photo is an L5
coy tippy, e-mail, 19.01.2009 02:05
I owned and also took my check ride (1971)IN A 1947 STAION WAGON. THE PLANE WAS VERY DOCEL AND ALMOST IMPOSSABLE TO STALL. GREAT X COUNTRY PLANE.
liam, e-mail, 01.01.2009 22:35
this is an l-5 not a 108. own a 108-3 station wagon. the franklin used in stinson 108 are opposed 6 cyl engines 150hp or 165hp mounted " " rightside up.
Dennis Goodrich, e-mail, 25.12.2008 18:09
The photo of VR-HFD does not show a Model 108 Voyager. It would appear to me to be a L-5 Sentinel "observer" model that has been converted to civilian use. The horizontal stab on a 108 is located much higher, for instance. What country is "VR"?
Ken Schroeder, e-mail, 14.08.2008 05:46
I took my private test in a Stinson Station Wagon in 1963. Don't know the year of the plane. Comfortable, quiet ride. Original models had an inverted Franklin engine in them, but the model I flew had the "right side up" engine, still a Franklin.
Robert V. Ricard, e-mail, 09.06.2008 20:36
Stinson also made a model called the Flying Station Wagon which was almost identical to the Voyager. I saw some at Detroit City Airport in 1946 and later.
