Pioneering aviator, Northwest’s First Pilot
Always up for a challenge, Charles Holman raced motorcycles as a teenager (earning his nickname), and apprenticed as an aircraft mechanic to learn how to fly. He learned how to parachute and wingwalk as his fame grew as an air-racer in the mid-1920s.
In 1926 he was one of the first aviators on the new Chicago to St. Paul route; when Charles Dickinson’s fledgeling airline failed, Holman was hired on as the first Pilot for the new Northwest Airways – carrying the mail between the Twin Cities and Chicago from October 1926, and at the controls for NWA’s first passenger flight on July 5, 1927.
Holman’s passion for flight was matched by keen mechanical engineering insights and an engaging personality. As Operations Manager, he helped the company evaluate and launch new aircraft types, set operational standards for flying, and still provide welcoming service and reassurance for hundreds of first-time passengers – all the while continuing to race aircraft … and win.
“Speed’s” pilot’s licenses were signed off by none other than Orville Wright, and his expertise was sought by aircraft manufacturers as the 1920s drew to a close.
As the 1930s began, Northwest continued to pioneer new routes in the Upper Midwest, commenced flying at night, introduced the then-massive Ford Tri-Motor. Holman’s amiable leadership in the sky and on the ground gave both staff and passengers confidence despite the onset of the Depression.
Holman died May 17, 1931, at age 32, when his flying-competition aircraft crashed during the opening of Omaha, Nebraska’s airport in front of 20,000 spectators. His funeral was one of the largest held to that point in the Twin Cities.
St. Paul’s downtown airport – at that time NWA’s main operations base – was named Holman Field in “Speed’s” honor. Losing such a well-loved and larger-than-life leader so early was a blow to the whole company – but his legacy was honored in the spirit and grit exhibited by those who carried on to open the new route to the Pacific, cooperate closely with flight safety researchers, and seek ever newer and more capable aircraft to make air travel accessible to all.
