aviator
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
who held a world speed record from 1979 to 1989 and won six Unlimited-class air races, including two national championships. He won four consecutive Unlimited races in one year, and remains the only pilot ever to do so. He retired from racing in 1990. His son, Steven Hinton Jr., became the youngest pilot to win the
Reno Air Races
The Reno Air Races, officially known as the STIHL National Championship Air Races from 2016, is a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that takes place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada. A ...
Unlimited-class championship in 2009 at the age of 22. Steve is the president of
Planes of Fame
Planes of Fame Air Museum is an aviation museum in Chino, California, Chino, California,RB51 Red Baron at Tonopah, Nevada, making Hinton, age 27, the youngest person ever to capture the speed record.
On September 16, 1979, Hinton was racing the RB-51 in Reno when the plane suffered catastrophic engine failure. Hinton finished the race in second place, but crashed short of the runway. Although the plane's fuel erupted in a fireball, the cockpit was thrown away from the fire and Hinton survived with a broken back, leg, and ankle.
In 1980, Hinton married Karen Maloney. Karen is the daughter of Steve's friend, air racing legend Ed Maloney.
Hinton became the chief test pilot for the Tsunami Racer in 1987.
Some of Hinton's notable wins in air racing include:
* 1978, Mojave, ''Red Baron''
* 1978, Reno (Unlimited National Champion), ''Red Baron''
* 1979, Miami, ''Red Baron''
* 1979, Mojave, ''Red Baron''
* 1985, Reno (Unlimited National Champion), ''Super Corsair''
* 1990, Sherman, Texas, ''Tsunami''
Hinton is a member of the
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
and charter member of the Motion Picture Pilots Association. He has worked on more than 60 films. In 2002 he received a nomination from the World Stunt Awards for the Taurus Award, Best Aerial Work in ''Pearl Harbor''. imdb.com Retrieved 12 July 2011.
See also
*
Fastest propeller-driven aircraft A number of aircraft have been claimed to be the fastest Propeller aircraft, propeller-driven aircraft. This article presents the current record holders for several sub-classes of propeller-driven aircraft that hold recognized, documented speed reco ...