Darrin Smedsmo’s Freed Stinson 108 Airplane on Display at Oshkosh | Aviation International News

EAA AirVenture 2026

Regulations and Government

Darrin Smedsmo’s Freed Stinson on Display at Oshkosh

Airplane was detained after he made an emergency landing on tribal land

Darrin Smedsmo and his Stinson 108 airplane — Darrin Smedsmo brought his Stinson 108 to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and shared the story of how it was detained by the Red Lake Nation after his emergency landing on tribal land. © AIN/Matt Thurber

By Matt Thurber • Editor-in-Chief

July 24, 2026

After Darrin Smedmo’s 1946 Stinson 108 was confiscated following his engine-failure emergency landing on the Red Lake Nation’s tribal reservation on Oct. 15, 2025, the tribe finally released it after more than seven months. Smedsmo brought his Stinson to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and displayed it mounted on a trailer outside the AOPA exhibit, highlighting AOPA’s help in returning the airplane and in the effort to change a 1978 Red Lake Nation resolution that claims sovereignty over airspace above the reservation up to 20,000 feet.

Luckily, other than the seized-up engine, there was no damage from the Stinson’s detention, while it was parked outside. When the airplane was released, Smedsmo’s mechanic and some friends helped remove the wings and loaded the Stinson onto a trailer and brought it back to Roseau, Minnesota.

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