The Story of a Very Special "Twin Stinson"
                  Half Stinson - Half Langley
            Pierce-Arrow, model U-2, serial number 1

                Larry Westin - Rev. A - 6/10/97

Unfortunately with the limited disk space I am allotted by my
Internet Service Provider, I can no longer include the images I
once provided to go along with this article.

After viewing my Homepage, Harry Wells and I "talked" via E-Mail. 
Harry indicated he has a photograph of the "Twin Stinson."  At
first I thought he had photographed the Piper "Twin Stinson,"
which would later became the Piper Apache.  Harry was kind enough
to send me a copy of the photograph of N6622A taken at Gundy's
Airport, Owasso, Oklahoma, by Harry Wells, and I was amazed to
see this was truly a different "Twin Stinson."  

Actually the airplane is part Stinson and part Langley Twin.  The
fuselage and tail are Stinson 108 while the wing, landing gear
and engines are Langley Twin. 

The Langley is a very rare airplane indeed, only about 3 or 4
were built, although it was a Type Certificated airplane,
achieving ATC number 755.  Built during World War II when
aluminum was very scarce, it is a laminated all wood airplane,
twin engine with fixed landing gear.  Imagine a small looking
Twin Beech, complete with twin fins and rudders, and you have a
reasonable idea of what the Langley looked like.  

Sometime around 1965 the Langley was landing in Oklahoma.  After
touch down the brakes locked flipping the airplane over and
damaging the fuselage beyond economical repair.  John Pierce and
Hurley Boehler had a Stinson 108 fuselage in their hangar without
wings, so they decided to purchase the Langley.    

Construction of the airplane occurred at Harvey Young Airport,
Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Several old timers including John Pierce,
Hurley Boehler and Jerry Hinds participated.  The name came from
Hurley Boehler who said "call it a Pierce Arrow."  Then Jerry
Hinds, who was present, said "you two guys are crazy."  From this
conversation came the type (Pierce Arrow) and the model (U-2 as
an abbreviation for "you two"). The airplane was licensed in the
experimental category as amateur built.  Truly a unique airplane,
it is the only example, and is serial number 1. 

The Stinson 108 fuselage had the original Franklin engine were
removed and a nose piece cover added along with a new windshield.

Examination of the FAA records for the airplane shows the
approval for flight was issued on July 8, 1966.  At this time the
airplane was powered by the original engines installed on the
Langley Twin, Franklin 90 Hp engines driving Flottorp 70KA54
fixed pitch props.

Toward the end of 1967 the engines were replaced with Lycoming O-
290-D engines (115 Hp) driving Sensenich M74DM props.  Later,
about 1980, the airplane was re-engined, this time with Lycoming 
O-320 engines driving McCauley 74-64 props.

FAA records show that it changed registered owners 6 times, with
John Pierce being the registered owner twice.  One owner is
listed on some forms but apparently it was never actually
registered to Joe Kennison as there is no bill of sale or
registration in his name.  Jerry Hinds purchased the airplane in
June 1981 and he is the last registered owner on the FAA records. 
At the time Jerry purchased the airplane it had 551 hours flying
time.

An "N" number search still shows Jerry Hinds as the current
registered owner.  I had the pleasure of talking with Jerry Hinds
and he told me that he sold the airplane about 10 or 12 years ago 
(about 1986).  At the time (1986) he traded the Pierce Arrow for
a Swift to an individual in Aerococa, New Mexico.  Apparently the
new owner never actually registered the airplane.

Jerry indicated the airplane flew very well, but was also very
underpowered with the original Franklin 90 Hp engines.  The later
Lycoming engines helped a great deal to improve performance.  One
big draw back was the small fuel tanks of the Langley twin, only
17 gallons each.  To extend the range when flying cross country
Jerry often shut down one engine.  As fuel drained he would then
restart the engine then shutdown the other engine.

Normal cruise was 150 MPH, rate of climb was 2,000 FPM, service
ceiling 18,000, and single engine best rate of climb 750 FPM.

The Pierce Arrow was flown in formation with a Pitts Special,
named "Foxy Lady," owned and flown by Mike, a friend of Jerry
Hinds. Jerry and Mike flew the pair in airshows in addition to a
Swift Jerry owned.  

If anyone viewing this page is aware of the current status of
this airplane please E-Mail me at westin@tdstelme.net

First my thanks to Harry Wells for bringing this unique "Stinson"
to my attention.  Also my thanks to Jerry Hinds for taking the 
time to talk with me about this very interesting airplane.
Lastly my thanks to Vanessa Hawkins at the FAA Aircraft
Registration Branch for sending me the aircrafts records.

Finally if you have old copies of aviation magazines, this
airplane appeared on the April 1974 cover of Plane and Pilot
magazine.

                      Larry Westin