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Stinson SR5A Reliant – Harry Ballance’s pursuit of perfection

A masterpiece in design, the Stinson Reliant SR5 flown by owner Harry Ballance Jr. glistens in the early morning light over one of the many lakes of Wisconsin. (Photo by David Leininger)

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Harry Ballance Jr. has no memory of his father’s Stinson SR5A or any of the Stinsons his father owned. Born in 1939, he was too young to comprehend the beauty or significance of the Reliant series of elegant, high-wing commercial/private aircraft made in Wayne, Michigan between 1933 and 1941. With 10 principal civilian models, four military versions, and an assortment of subtypes, the SR line was offered as swift, luxurious personal transport for the well-to-do,...

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