With the encouragement of their commanding officer, Captain Benjamin M. Chiswell of the USRC Onondaga, Lieutenants Stone and Hall approached the Curtiss Flying School in Newport News, Virginia about using aircraft in air-sea rescue operations, and participated in experimental flights in a Curtiss Model F flying boat.

During the summer of 1915, Stone and Hall performed scouting patrols for Onondaga, assisting in search missions that the cutter was assigned.

He was awarded the Navy Cross and Congressional Medal of Achievement for "distinguished service in making the first successful trans-Atlantic flight" on November 11, 1920.

After a tour at sea, Stone became the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Aviation Unit at Cape May, New Jersey, where he continued to develop his skill at making open-ocean landings.

He died of a heart attack while on duty on May 20, 1936, in San Diego, California, while inspecting a new aircraft and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.