Aviation / Aerospace

Stinson Reliant

Lightweight Liaison Aircraft [ 1933 ]

The high-wing monplane Stinson Reliant series soldiered on before, through and after World War 2 in service with several notable operators.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 04/15/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

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The Stinson Reliant was a product of the pre-World War 2 (1939-1945) period and used in the liaison and training roles. It carried a shoulder-mounted monoplane form giving it excellent lift, low-altitude handling, and short-field capabilities. 1,327 of the type were produced in a myriad of variants and these went on to serve a large collection of global operators ranging from Argentina and Australia to Paraguay and the United States.

The Stinson Aircraft Company was founded after the fighting of World War 1 (1914-1918) in 1920 and managed an existence until after World War 2 in 1948. Based out of Detroit, Michigan, the company excelled at the lightweight plane concept with many of its creations seen sporting shoulder-mounted wing mainplanes. The company's first major contribution was the SB-1 "Detroiter" - a single-engine cabin biplane - of which twenty-six examples were from 1926 on (ultimately more than 100 aircraft were built under the Detroiter name).

Production of the Reliant occurred in the pre-war years beginning in 1931 and ended when the war was in full swing in 1943. While many early types were conditioned for civilian use, the first dedicated military forms were finally introduced in February of 1942 when the United States war machine required aircraft of all types for the effort. Both the British and the Americans relied on the lightweight aircraft to survey battlefields, conduct reconnaissance runs, communications, and ferrying passengers to and fro. For the latter party, the aircraft was designated as UC-81 and AT-19 marking utility and trainer roles, respectively. Several aircraft mimicking the form and function of the Reliant were utilized by the United States and other military powers of the wartime period.

Variants of the Reliant proved plenty and, therefore, the aircraft could be pressed into a variety of roles including general cargo hauling, air ambulance, photographic scouting, firefighting, and target towing. The civilian market line began with the SR Reliant and this form carried the Lycoming R-680 radial piston engine of 215 horsepower. This was followed by the SR-1 with its Lycoming R-680-2 engine of 240 horsepower - two were built. From this beginning arrived other marks ranging from SR-3 to the SR-10K, the latter powered through a Wright R-760E-3 engine - eleven of this mark were produced in all.

The SR-10F production form carried a crew of one and up to four passengers. Dimensions included a running length of 27.10 feet, a wingspan of 41.6 feet, and a height of 8.5 feet. Empty weight was 3,045lb against a Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) of 4,605lb. Power was from a single Pratt & Whitney "Wasp Junior" SB 9-cylinder, air-cooled radial piston engine developing 400 horsepower and driving a two-bladed propeller unit at the nose. With this configuration, the aircraft could manage a cruising speed near 177 miles-per-hour, a range out to 850 miles, and a service ceiling up to 21,000 feet. Rate-of-climb was 1,330 feet-per-minute.

Military marks began with the AT-19 designated by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and operated by the British Royal Navy through Lend-Lease as the "Reliant I" - 500 examples being produced. Fifty-one AT-19s were converted for the photographic surveying role as the AT-19C. Utility marks began with the UC-81 and ran, in order, to the UC-81N. The L-12 were a pair of SR.5A models taken into USAAF service while the L-12A were a pair of SR-7Bs. RQ-1 was used to designated a one-off SR-5 model taken on by the United States Coast Guard service in 1935 - this example was eventually redesignated as the XR3Q-1 and operated into 1941 by the United States Navy.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1933

Origin

United States

Status

RETIRED
Not in Service.

Crew

1

Production

1,327
UNITS

Stinson Aircraft Company - USA

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Argentina; Australia; Brazil; El Salvador; Mexico; Norway; Paraguay; Philippines; United Kingdom; United States

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR), Scout
Surveil ground targets / target areas to assess environmental threat levels, enemy strength, or enemy movement.

✓ Training (General)
Developed ability to be used as a dedicated trainer for student pilots (typically under the supervision of an instructor).

Length

27.9 ft
(8.51 m)

Width/Span

41.6 ft
(12.68 m)

Height

8.5 ft
(2.60 m)

Empty Wgt

3,053 lb
(1,385 kg)

MTOW

4,630 lb
(2,100 kg)

Wgt Diff

+1,576 lb
(+715 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the Stinson Reliant SR-10F production variant)

Installed: 1 x Pratt & Whitney "Wasp Junior" SB 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine driving a two-bladed propeller unit at the nose.

Max Speed

177 mph
(285 kph | 154 kts)

Ceiling

20,997 ft
(6,400 m | 4 mi)

Range

851 mi
(1,370 km | 2,537 nm)

Rate-of-Climb

1,330 ft/min
(405 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the Stinson Reliant SR-10F production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

None.

Supported Types

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

SR-1

SR-2

SR-3

SR-4

SR-5

SR-5A

SR-5B

SR-5C

SR-5E

SR-5F

SR-6

SR-6A

SR-6B

SR-7

SR-7B

SR-7C

SR-8A

SR-8B

SR-8C

SR-8D

SR-8DM

SR-8E

SR-8DE

SR-9

SR-9A

SR-9B

SR-9C

SR-9E

SR-9F

SR-10 - Final commercial model

SR-10B

SR-10C

SR-10D

SR-10E

SR-10F

SR-10G

SR-10J

SR-10K

AT-19

AT-19A

AR-19B

AT-19C

UC-81

UC-81A

UC-81C

UC-81D

XC-81D

UC-81E

UC-81F

UC-81G

UC-81H

UC-81J

UC-81K

UC-81L

UC-81M

UC-81N

L-12

L-12A

RQ-1

XR3Q-1

Reliant Mk I

V-77 - Post-war civilian model marketed by Vultee.

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