Katherine Stinson (February 14, 1891 – July 8, 1977) was an American aviation pioneer who, in 1912, became the fourth woman in the United States to earn the FAI pilot certificate. She set flying records for aerobatic maneuvers, distance, and endurance. She was the first female pilot employed by the U.S. Postal Service and the first civilian pilot to fly the mail in Canada. She was also one of the first pilots to ever fly at night and the first female pilot to fly in Canada and Japan.
Early life and flight training
Stinson was born on February 14, 1891, at Fort Payne, Alabama to Edward Sr. and Emma Stinson. Edward Sr. left the family, leaving Emma alone to raise Stinson and her younger siblings Edward Jr., Marjorie, and John (Jack). Emma moved the family to Jackson, Mississippi, where Stinson attended high school. She excelled at music and dreamed of being a concert pianist. After she graduated from high school, the family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Stinson learned to drive the family flivver at the age of 14. In 1911, she took her first flight aloft in a hot-air balloon in Kansas City. Smitten by the flying bug, Stinson sold her piano to help pay for flying lessons. Stinson went to St. Louis to take flight lessons from Tony Jannus, who allowed her to fly only as a passenger. She then took flying lessons from the well-known aviator Max Lillie, a pilot for the Wright Brothers, who initially refused to teach her because she was female. However, Stinson was able to solo the Wright B, after only four hours of instruction, on July 13, 1912, at Cicero Field.
She was the fourth woman in the United States to obtain a pilot's certificate, which she earned on July 24, 1912, at the age of 21.
Stunt flying and world records
After she received her certificate, Stinson returned to the family farm in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Stinson and her mother, Emma, incorporated the Stinson Aviation Company in April 1913 to "manufacture, sell, rent, and otherwise engage in the aircraft trade." In May, Stinson bought a Wright B from Lillie. In July, she flew at Cincinnati's Coney Island Park, and then Columbus, Indiana in August. She then carried the first airmail at the Helena State Fair, flew at the Illinois State Fair, then El Paso, Helena, Arkansas, New Orleans, and Beaumont, Texas. Stinson then received permission to use the airplane sheds at Fort Sam Houston. She believed the San Antonio, Texas area had an ideal flying climate.
In 1915, the Stinson family established the Stinson Municipal Airport and the Stinson School of Flying. Emma managed the school, Katherine financed it, Eddie worked as a mechanic, and Marjorie flight instructed.
In March 1915, the famous Lincoln Beachey died in a crash in San Francisco, and Stinson acquired the rotary engine from his wrecked plane, rebuilt it, and used it in her plane.
Stinson began exhibition flying and became known as the "Flying Schoolgirl" and "America's Sweetheart of the Air." On July 18, 1915, at Cicero Field in Chicago, Illinois, Stinson performed a loop (a year after Lydia Zvereva became the first woman aviator to do so), and went on to perform this feat some 500 times without a single accident. She also became one of the first pilots to ever fly at night. Adding to her night flying experience, she flew over Los Angeles with flares attached to the plane and spelled out "CAL", becoming the first nighttime sky-writer. In another publicity stunt on May 6, 1916, Stinson flew her plane in a race with Dario Resta, the 1916 Indianapolis 500 champion.
In 1917, Stinson made a six-month tour of China and Japan, becoming one of the first females to fly in Asia. The Japanese gave her the name "Air Queen". On December 11, 1917, Stinson flew 610 miles from San Diego to San Francisco, setting a new American non-stop distance record.
During exhibition flights in Canada, Stinson became the first civilian to fly the mail in Canada on a flight from Calgary to Edmonton, Alberta, in 1918.
All of her stunt flying was done in aircraft using the Wright control system, which uses two side-mounted levers for pitch and roll, with top-mounted controls for throttle and yaw.