Pilots were no problem as this was a period when eager, adventurous young men             who knew how to fly were clamoring to make their mark on aviation. Initially             Dickinson picks included Billy Brock, Matty Laird, Dan Kaiser, H.J. Keller,             Nimmo Black and Elmer Partridge. Ironically Partridge, killed in a crash on the first             day of the new airmail service, was not to be a “regular” He was just temporarily             filling in.

            Two soon to be Northwest Airways pilots also flew for Dickinson; David Behncke and Charles “Speed” Holman. Holman, however was then only part time as Clarence Hinck’s Flying Circus was his main vocation at that time.

            Excitement grew as the June 7 th startup date approached. Special red, white and blue “airmail boxes” appeared on many street corners. Post offices were deluged with mail. Twin City civic leaders and the general public shared the enthusiasm. The excitement peaked on inauguration day. There were parades, bands, crowds, cheers and speeches. Charles Dickinson was in his glory. With the tumult echoing in his ears. Elmer Partridge climbed into his plane and trundled off the Speedway Field runway with the second load of Chicago airmail. (Billy Brock had left about ten minutes earlier with the first load). Speedway Field was on the present site of the Twin Cities International Airport.

            Partridge was barely out of sight when disaster struck. He crashed near Hastings, a few miles away, and was killed. Sadly, inauguration day for “Dickinson Airways” was also the day that marked the beginning of its rather swift, and tragic, demise. A shaken Dickinson vowed to continue. He tried, but fates would not permit it. During the next two months, many of his pilots quit and he was losing quite a bit of money. Finally he was down to one pilot and one plane.

            Sitting in his office in the Blackstone Hotel high above Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, Dickinson went over his records. He pondered far into the night. But there was no way he could maintain a schedule of one round trip a day. Pop gave it up and threw in the towel……. But he accomplished something….. His efforts became a bonafide footnote in aviation history. And, he set the table for a little airline that began operation less than two months later and was destined to become one of the behemoths of commercial aviation – Northwest Airways.

GENERAL INFORMATION

            NWA History Centre, Inc. is a Minnesota not for profit corporation, owned and operated by volunteers. The museum is located at 8101 – 34 th Ave., So. in Bloomington, MN, 55425. Telephone (952) 997-8000 extension 8-6102.

            Museum hours are; Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM and on Saturdays from 9:00 AM till noon. The museum will be closed for the holidays December 26 and 27, 2003.