Stinson SM-1 Detroiter at Long Beach Municipal Airport (1927)

Frontal view of a 1927 Stinson SM-1 Detroiter cabin monoplane on the tarmac at Long Beach Airport outside Arbogast Aero Service hangars. — Stinson SM-1 Detroiter at Long Beach Municipal Airport (1927) · Donald A. Hall Estate Collection

Captured on the ramp at Daugherty Field in Long Beach, California, Donald A. Hall Sr. documented this frontal view of a 1927 Stinson SM-1 Detroiter six-place cabin monoplane. Powered by a 220-horsepower Wright J-5 Whirlwind radial engine, the aircraft rests outside the arched hangars of Arbogast Aero Service and Belmont Airplane Co. As Chief Engineer of Ryan Airlines, Hall studied the Detroiter's wide-track landing gear, where the vertical shock struts attached directly to the wing struts to maximize ground stability.