The SM-1 (Stinson Monoplane-1) Detroiter was Stinson’s first effort at building an airplane with one wing. With no lower wing, six seats and large windows, Scenic Airways found riding in it was a great way to see the Grand Canyon.

John Seibold, founder of the modern Scenic Airlines—a Grand Canyon air tour operator—needed one last airplane to complete his collection of planes flown by the very first air tour operator to give the vacationing public views of the great canyon from the air. The missing airplane was the very first Grand Canyon airplane, the Stinson SM-1 Detroiter.

Seibold had the hull of the airplane in storage for some time and finally decided, about four years ago, to get its restoration underway. Chuck Wentworth of Antique Aero Inc. got the job of bringing the big monoplane back to its 1927 glory.

"From day one we knew where we were going [with the restoration]," Wentworth said. "The intent all along was to get it back to being the very first Grand Canyon tour aircraft."

Parker Van Zandt, founder of Scenic Airways Inc., needed a rugged airplane with big windows and plenty of seats. The Stinson Detroiter was particularly suited to the task as it had six seats, two doors, a durable birch wood interior and the reliable Wright J-5 engine. As for the windows, the standard Detroiter had great views, but Van Zandt went even further ordering his plane with windowsills three inches lower than the stock openings.

To Wentworth, the biggest challenge of the project was all the research required to bring the plane back to its original configuration. Over the course of the project, a large number of photographs were located to help solidify understanding of details like the exhaust system, the oversized windows, and the unique round window below the instrument panel.

About 30 of the six-seat Detroiters were made. About half of those 30 were equipped with the main landing gear system this plane sports, before, according to Wentworth, Stinson "fixed" the gear.

"This is, I think, one of the only airplanes where the landing gear pulls on each other, so it can go from side to side," Wentworth said. "It wasn’t long and they went to an outrigger gear with oleo struts. I think they went with this configuration first because it was lighter."

The plane only served the Canyon for a couple of years before it was replaced with a newer design. Records Wentworth uncovered during the project show the plane worked very hard during its short tenure. Major maintenance like recovering and control cable replacement, repairs that modern airplanes require only after decades of service, were occurring every two years or less.

During the rebuild, as little as possible was changed from the original design, though according to Wentworth they just didn’t have to.

"It’s a big, tough airplane," Wentworth said. "They didn’t skip on the tubing diameter or the thickness. It hurt them on weight—this airplane has a 2,400-pound empty weight—but there is an awful lot of big tubing in here."

"That just was the era. [Lighter tubing] will work, but let’s play it safe," he added.

Necessary changes, however, included replacing the J-5 with a similar looking Lycoming radial, and covering the airframe with modern fabric. While Wentworth believed the J-5 is certainly a reliable choice, the rarity of the engine and matching propellers really precluded its use in the project.

The big plane will join a Gullwing Stinson, a Curtiss Robin, a Travel Air, and a Ford Tri-Motor in Seibold’s aircraft collection at the Valle Airport near the Grand Canyon in Williams, Arizona. Its public debut will be at Valle’s Annual Antique Fly-in and Chili Cook-off on September 1, 2007.