Career
He retired from racing in 1990. Steve is the president of Planes of Fame Air Museum with locations in Chino, California and Valle-Grand Canyon, Arizona, and owner of Fighter Rebuilders, a military aircraft restoration company. On August 14, 1979, Hinton set the piston-driven aircraft 3-kilometer world speed record at 499.018 mph in the highly-modified 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.
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
1979, Miami, Red Baron
1979, Mojave, Red Baron
1990, Sherman, Texas, Tsunami
He has worked on more than 60 films.