The Stinson L-1 Vigilant (company designation Model 74) was a 1940s American light observation aircraft built by the Stinson Aircraft Company at Wayne, Michigan (by November 1940 a division of Vultee Aircraft Corporation).
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General Harry Crerar, Commander of the First Canadian Army in Europe during World War II, maintained a Vigilant for his personal use.
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The prototype aircraft was built full-span leading-edge automatic slots manufactured by Handley Page, and slotted flaps.
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During the campaign to recapture the Philippines, pilots of the 25th Liaison Squadron flew a dozen L-5 aircraft in short 30-minute flights (Dec. 10-25, 1944) delivering supplies (including a 300-bed hospital) to the 6,000 men of the 11th Airborne Division isolated in the mountains of Leyte.
Over the course of those five years, the 125th flew the Douglas 0-38E, the Curtiss O-52 Owl, and the Stinson L-5 Sentinel.
When the reconnaissance units left, liaison units that primarily flew Stinson L-5 Sentinels were stationed at Statesboro for the remainder of the war.