Honoree – Ray Wilson

Raymond “Ray” Wilson

Honored 1970

After Ray Wilson graduated from the University of Illinois in 1923, where he was enrolled in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, he went to flight training at Brooks Army Field in San Antonio, Texas. When he arrived in Denver to begin work for the Denver Gas and Electric Company (Public Service Company of Colorado), he affiliated with the 120^th Observation squadron of the Colorado National Guard where he could continue to fly. Ray’s heart was in flying, so in 1929, he went to work in aviation full-time as the Chief pilot and flight instructor with the Curtis-Wright flying service.

In Denver, Tom Shelton was developing the sleek and futuristic AG-4 Crusader, an all-metal, twin-engine aircraft that could seat four and fly 100 miles per hour faster than most private planes. Ray Wilson became the test pilot for this amazing aircraft when the first Crusader was flown in 1935.

During 1935 he opened a flight school at the site of the old Curtis field (56^th and Colorado Blvd). The Ray Wilson Flying School was operated in conjunction with the University of Colorado, was also a fixed base operator, flew charter flights and did aerial photography. Ray, as the chief instructor, became known for his quality flight instruction.

With the threat of war growing in 1940, the United States Army Air Corps saw a need for thousands of pilots in the future. The Army looked to civilian flight schools to fill the gap. Ray Wilson and Major F.W. Bonfils (the General Manager of the Denver Post) started an Air Corps approved primary flight training school at Chickasha, Oklahoma. This civilian run school opened with its first class in October of 1941 and operated until July 1945.

Ray Wilson had perceived the need for scheduled air service to link the smaller communities in the Rocky Mountain States to the major transcontinental airline routes. In 1946 Ray and F.W. Bonfils were granted authorization to operate a scheduled airline in the Rocky Mountain area. Called Monarch Airlines, the company would fly between Denver, Albuquerque, and Salt Lake City. Beginning in 1946, the airline flew to 16 communities in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.

In 1950 Monarch purchased Arizona Airways and later merged with Challenger Airlines to form Frontier Airlines. These combined companies served 34 communities in seven states. Ray Wilson helped guide Frontier until 1954 and later served the people of Colorado as Director of Aviation and as Aviation Inspector for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Throughout his career it was said that “Nobody worked for Ray-they worked with him”.