Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Four/five-seat cabin monoplane

Power Plant:

(SR-7B)

One 183 kw (245 hp) Lycoming R-680-6 seven-cylinder air-cooled radial engine

Specifications:

History:

As well as developing the tri-motor Model A, Stinson Aircraft was also working in 1933 on the SR Reliant series of light passenger monoplanes. This aircraft followed on from the Models R and S and was a combination of the better parts from those models. It had an all-new cantilever undercarriage, improved styling and minor detail refinements.  One hundred examples of the four-seater were delivered during 1933 under the designations SR-1, SR-2, SR-3 and SR-4.  The Model SR had a 160 kw (215 hp) Lycoming R-680 engine, and the SR-2 had a 179 kw (240 hp) Lycoming engine.  It was then approved to be fitted with Edo P-3300 floats.

In 1934 flaps were installed on the SR-5, the first production aircraft in its class to be so equipped.  Further refinement led to the SR-6 in 1935, the last of the straight-wing models.  Later in 1935 the Monospar wing which had been employed on the Model A was adapted for the Reliant, this new model becoming the SR-7 and showing a marked increase in performance.  The first production SR-7 flew on 8 January 1936 but was lost when it crashed near Amherst, Ontario after an uncontrolled spin.  The SR-8 followed, this being a more powerful model with seating for five and was used extensively in the charter role.  Canadian pilot Roy Brown, who was the Canadian distributor for the type, and who was known as the pilot who shot down Baron Von Richthofen in World War I, imported many for Canadian bush operators.

The SR-9 was introduced in 1937, differing externally in having a moulded windscreen.  A variant was the SR-9F with a 336 kw (450 hp) Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior engine, aimed at the Canadian bush market. More than 200 SR-9s were built in 1937, standard variants having a 261 kw (350 hp) Wright R-780 engine.  The Reliant was renowned for its safety but on 1 August 1937 an SR-9EM floatplane in Norway lost a wing and crashed into Oslo Harbour.  All SR-9s were grounded until reinforcement had been carried out.  In 1938 the SR-10 5800 Series appeared, followed by the 5900 Series the following year.  A total of 110 SR-10s was built, the last in 1941, when the military model, the SR-10J, which was known as the V-77 advanced trainer or AT-19, entered production.

The SR-7 was a high-wing cabin monoplane with accommodation for four or five persons.  Construction consisted of welded steel-tube fuselage framework with wooden formers and fairing strips, covered with fabric. Forward of the doors the entire fuselage was covered in dural metal panels. A luggage compartment was located under the rear seat with allowance for 11 kg (25 lb), whereas the main baggage compartment behind the rear seat could accommodate 2 kg to 45 kg (5 lb to 100 lb) according to the fuel load. The wing had a girder-type spar-beam of welded chrome-molybdenum tubing with wing ribs of square dural tubing riveted together and reinforced with dural gussets. The leading-edges were covered with dural sheet and the complete framework was covered in fabric.

A number of Stinson Reliants have operated in Australia and New Zealand over the years.  After the lifting of the Australian Government’s embargo on the import of American aircraft in 1935, the Melbourne, VIC firm of Brown & Dureau Ltd established an Australian agency for a number of American aircraft and engine manufacturers. In 1936 orders were received for two Reliants for Guinea Airways (VH-UGC and VH-URC), arriving in April on board the SS City of Brisbane, then being shipped to Lae, New Guinea in May on board the SS Montoro.  A further two arrived that year at Brisbane for assembly at Archerfield, QLD these two becoming VH-UTW and VH-UXF.  These were all Model SR-7Bs fitted with an 183 kw (245 hp) Lycoming R-680-6 radial engine.

Aircraft with an Australiasian connection were: VH-ABJ (c/n 5257) [some records show 5227] was an SR-9FM built at the Stinson facility at Wayne, Michigan, fitted with a Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior engine, making its first flight on 30 November 1937.  It was registered to Guinea Airways of Lae, NG on 24 February 1938, having been fitted with floats.  It was fitted out for freight work, having an extended cabin 3.65 m (12 ft) long, a hatch in the roof for loading bulky cargo items, and additional fuel tanks.  It saw some service working for oil exploration companies under contract to Island Exploration Co and Australasian Petroleum Corp. On 3 May 1939 its Certificate of Airworthiness was renewed after an overhaul but thereafter there were problems with corrosion by seawater in the airframe. The Certificate of Airworthiness was again renewed in January 1941 but it is believed it was eventually destroyed by enemy air raids at either Lae or Wau in New Guinea on 21 March 1942.

VH-UXF (c/n 9651) was an SR-7B which was manufactured in January 1936 and was registered on 5 May that year to R W White of Eskdale, QLD.  Its owner was a grazier and pastoralist, and it was used for varied business interests. However, a few months later it was destroyed in a hangar fire on 28 June 1939 at Archerfield, QLD.

VH-UTW (c/n 9665) was also an SR-7B, manufactured in February 1936 and first registered on 4 May 1936 to P H ‘Skip’ Moody of Brisbane, QLD and was used by his company P H Moody Air Taxis.  It was flown in the December 1936 Brisbane – Adelaide Air Race as Race Number 36.  Ownership was transferred on 22 March 1937 to Airlines (WA) Ltd of Perth and it was named Meekatharra.  In March 1942 it was sent to Broome to assist in the evacuation of personnel after the first Japanese air raids, was caught on the ground and was destroyed by enemy action 20 March 1942.

VH-URC (c/n 9669) was an SR-7B, which was manufactured in March 1936 and registered to Guinea Airways Ltd of Lae, NG on 8 June 1936. It crashed on 27 August 1937 during a freight flight in fog at Wau in New Guinea.

VH-UGC (c/n 9668) was an SR-7B built at Wayne, Michigan in March 1936.  It was registered to Guinea Airways Ltd of Lae, PNG on 1 June 1936 and saw considerable service in the freight and charter roles, having 3,265 hours logged by September 1940.  It was retired but returned to service in January 1942 at Salamaua and was used in the evacuation of the highlands in the face of Japanese air attacks.  On 21 January 1942 Lae, Bulolo and Salamaua were attacked by Japanese fighters, 12 civil aircraft and an RAAF Lockheed Hudson being destroyed, including the Reliant.

VH-UXL (c/n 9766), an SR-8C, was first flown at Michigan on 14 August 1936 and arrived in Melbourne, VIC on 5 October 1936 for the Vacuum Oil Co.  After assembly at Essendon, VIC it was registered on 13 October.  It was used by the company’s aviation department to inspect aerodrome refuelling facilities, and for experimental work in developing aviation fuels and oils.  It was sold to William J Smith of the Australian Glass Manufacturing Co in September 1939 but was impressed by the RAAF as A38-1 and used by No 2 Communications Unit of the RAAF at Mascot, NSW.  By early 1944 it was no longer required by the RAAF but required a complete overhaul, being left in the open at Forrest Hill Air Force Station, Wagga Wagga, NSW.

In 1947 Air Operations Pty Ltd of Essendon purchased the aircraft and it was fitted with a new 194 kw (260 hp) Lycoming R-680-B5 engine. In June 1957 it was sold to K A Findlay of Launceston, Tasmania, becoming VH-KAF.  In May 1961 it was traded in on a new Cessna 175B and shortly thereafter went to D B Mott of Newcastle, NSW becoming VH-CWM.  In 1964 it was an entrant in the Ansett Brisbane to Adelaide Air Race.  In 1976 it was obtained by antique aircraft collector, Joe Drage, for his museum at Wodonga, VIC, later going to Airworld at Wangaratta, VIC, but was later sold to a Western Australian operator who restored the aircraft to new condition, reverting to its 1930’s VH-UXL registration and painted in the colour scheme of that time.  It has visited a number of aviation events on the east Australian coast.

VH-ISR, an SR-9E (c/n 5209 – ex N17138) was imported to Australia in 1989.  This machine was completed on 6 February 1936 and was powered by a 261 kw (350 hp) Wright R-780-E2 radial engine.

ZK-BDV (c/n 35902), an SR-10C, was first registered in the USA as NC21133.  It was flown by the RAF as BS803, and was then taken to Kenya as VP-KDV in October 1947.  The aircraft was exported to New Zealand and became ZK-BDV in June 1954, but was destroyed in a hangar fire in September 1957.

After the entry of the United States into World War II the USAAF had a requirement for a navigation trainer.  Stinson supplied the SR-10 in modified form, the new model, the V-77, first flying in July 1942, going into production as the AT-19 in 1942.  All but a few of these were supplied to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease as the Reliant I, some 500 being delivered for use in radio, navigation and photographic roles, in addition to general communications work.  Serials FB532 to FB772, and FK814 to FL163 were allotted and at least 13 Royal Navy units were equipped with the type.

A Royal Navy Reliant (FB728) was on the strength of No 723 Squadron Royal Navy for communications duties when the unit was based at HMAS Albatross Nowra, NSW in 1945.  RNAS station HMAS Nirimba at Schofields, west of Sydney, NSW, also had a Reliant attached to the Station Flight when the base opened on 5 February 1945, this aircraft becoming the first aircraft to land at that station on 7 February 1945.  After the war about 350 were returned to the United States where they were re-conditioned by the Wayne facility and sold to civil operators.  A few of these survive in the US and the United Kingdom.