Katherine Stinson (February 14, 1891 – July 8, 1977) was an American aviation pioneer who, in 1912, became the fourth woman in the United States to earn the FAI pilot certificate.

[8] She then took flying lessons from the well-known aviator Max Lillie, a pilot for the Wright Brothers, who initially refused to teach her because she was female.

[10] She was the fourth woman in the United States to obtain a pilot's certificate, which she earned on July 24, 1912, at the age of 21.

Emma managed the school, Katherine financed it, Eddie worked as a mechanic, and Marjorie flight instructed.

[9] Adding to her night flying experience, she flew over Los Angeles with flares attached to the plane and spelled out "CAL", becoming the first nighttime skywriter.

[9] In another publicity stunt on May 6, 1916, Stinson flew her plane in a race with Dario Resta, the 1916 Indianapolis 500 champion.

In 1918, Stinson approached Benjamin Lipsner, superintendent of the Post Office Department airmail operations, about undertaking a long-distance mail service flight from Chicago to New York City as a publicity stunt.

[12] She encountered strong headwinds on the flight and flew non-stop from Chicago to Binghamton, New York, where she had to stop for fuel.

[12] Unable to find stable aviation work, she applied to Lipsner once again, but this time as a regular mail service pilot.

[12] Stinson then left for Paris to be an ambulance driver for the Red Cross during WWI, ending her aviation career.

[9] In 1927, Stinson married ex-army aviator Miguel Antonio Otero Jr., a district judge and son of the former territorial governor of New Mexico.

[12] Stinson worked as an award winning architect[12] and Pueblo style home designer for many years in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

[19] She designed a house for Mary Colter, the famed Southwestern architect; one for Hazel Hyde, founder of The Town School in Manhattan, NYC, who retired to Santa Fe; one for Dorothy McKibbin, "gatekeeper" of the Los Alamos atomic bomb project; one for Dr. Frank Mera, director of Sunmount Sanitarium; and for a few other notable Southwesterners.