Second Commercial Air Service in 1929

Daily Airplane Service To Begin. Officials to Inaugurate New Twin Cities – Winnipeg Service Today. Daily airplane service between St. Paul and Winnipeg will be formally inaugurated today with a trip over the route by a fleet of planes carrying northwest officials and W. S. Brock, president of the Schlee-Brock interests at Detroit, Mich., who announced Tuesday his firm had taken over the Canadian American Airlines business now operating in this territory. The planes are scheduled to arrive at Grand Forks around noon, from St. Paul, carrying city officials from the Twin Cities, St. Cloud and Fargo. Mayor J. L. Hulteng of Grand Forks, has been invited by Mayor Dan McLean of Winnipeg to accompany the flight and attend a special dinner there this evening given in honor of the party. Three ships which will be here today will carry 18 passengers. They will be operated by William S. Borck, famed around the world flier and officers of the company; and Gene Shank and Thorwald “Thunder” M. Johnson. The tour will be in charge of H. D. Putnam, manager of operations for the aircraft company.

Service To Be Expanded. The cabin planes to be used in the regular service between here and Winnipeg are capable of 130 miles an hour with a load. Two Lockheed Vega planes will be used on the route in place of the Travel Air machines now operating on an every-other-day schedule. Expansion of services between the Twin Cities and Canada is planned by the Schlee-Brock concern, it was said by Mr. Brock, who with Edward F. Schlee composed the famous team of round-the-world fliers. Both men will be in active charge. Additional service planned includes a route between the Twin Cities and Port Authur by way of Duluth. This will be started as soon as a field at the head of the lakes is put into condition, Brock said. The Canadian-American Airlines company which was started last spring will operated under its original name but the company will be operated as a division of the Schlee-Brock lines. (Grand Forks Herald, Wednesday, October 16, 1929, Volume XLVIII, Number 297, Page 9)

St. Paul to Winnipeg Daily Air Passenger Service Will Commence Today. Schlee and Brock Interests Will Be Operators of Line. Dedication Trip Made by Detroit Owners and Officials Wednesday. The Schlee-Brock interests of Detroit, Mich., today are to begin daily air passenger service between St. Paul and Winnipeg with new Lockheed Vega monoplanes over the route formerly traversed by the Canadian-American Airlines which they recently acquired. W. S. Brock, president of the new concern, who with A. G. Schlee gained fame in a flight around the world, dedicated the new air service Wednesday when he took city officials from the Twin Cities, Fargo and Grand Forks to Winnipeg, where the group were guests at a dinner given by Mayor Dan McLean of that city Wednesday night. Planes flying the new line will furnish direct air connections from Grand Forks to all parts of Canada and the United States. Pilots Eugene Shank, “Thunder” Johnson, H. D. Putnam and John E. Grimmett will fly the route daily beginning this morning. The service will be continued through the winter, skis being used instead of wheels for landing when snow is heavy. The air party arrived at the Grand Forks airport shortly after noon Wednesday, and picked up two invited guests, Mayor John L. Hulteng and Dr. H. W. F. Law, of Grand Forks. Three planes, including the two new Lockheeds and a tri-motored monoplane were in the group, which left here about 12:45 o’clock.

Others in Party. Besides the Grand Forks men, other members of the party were Mr. Brock, who is president of the company, Mr. Schlee, Murray Baldwin, of the Fargo Aeronautics club; H. D. Paulson, editor of the Fargo Forum; George H. Sweetland, representing the city of Fargo; Chas. F. Keyes, of the Minneapolis city commission, representing that city; George Daws, aircraft sales manager; Charles E. Planck, Schlee-Brock interests representative; Commissioner L. R. S. Ferguson, of St. Paul; Howard Kahn, managing editor, St. Paul Daily News; Carl Langland of the Minneapolis Journal; J. R. Welsh of the Minneapolis Tribune, and Pilots H. D. Putnam and Eugene Shank. Mr. Brock also piloted one of the ships. The three large planes left St. Paul at 9 o’clock Wednesday morning, and stopped at Fargo before coming to Grand Forks. Their average speed to this city was 120 miles an hour, according to Mr. Planck who stated also that this would be regular flying time on the new schedule which will begin today. Beginning today, planes will leave St. Paul and Winnipeg simultaneously at 9 o’clock in the morning. The south bound plane will reach Grand Forks about 10:45 or 11 o’clock and the north bound ship is to arrive at noon.

Planes Arrive At Winnipeg On Schedule. Winnipeg, Man., Oct. 16. – (AP) – Four airplanes inaugurated daily passenger service between St. Paul and Winnipeg, landed here today with representatives of the mayors of the Twin Cities, St. Cloud, Fargo, N. D., and Grand Forks, N. D. William Brock, pilot of the famous Brock-Schlee flight to Tokyo, was in command of the flying quartette. The Schlee-Brock Corporation has purchased the Canadian-American Airways and the forming of the Twin Cities-Winnipeg service is one step in expansion of the flying routes. Mayor Dan McLean officially welcomed the visitors tonight at a banquet which was addressed by R. A. Hoey, acting premier of Manitoba. The scheduled flying time between Winnipeg and the Twin Cities is three and a half hours. (Grand Forks Herald, Thursday, October 17, 1929, Volume XLVIII, Number 298, Page 5)

Daily Air Service In Operation; City Officials Return. Daily air service between the Twin Cities and Winnipeg was in operation through this city Thursday with the return from the Canadian city of (Winnipeg with) officials from St. Paul, Minneapolis, Fargo and Grand Forks who flew over the route Wednesday on the dedication trip. The south bound Lockheed Vega plane arrived at the local airport on schedule time at 10:30 o’clock Wednesday morning and was closely followed by another Lockheed and a tri-motored ship carrying the Winnipeg visitors on their return trip. The north bound plane arrived from the Twin Cities at noon. Mayor J. L. Hulteng and Dr. H. W. F. Law who accompanied the party into Canada, were with the returning group. The mayor reported that the air tourists were entertained by the Civic and Commerce club at Winnipeg at 3 o’clock, following their arrival. In the evening they attended a dinner given by Mayor Dan McLean of Winnipeg at which a number of other prominent people were present. Schedule flying time between Winnipeg and the Twin Cities is three and one-half hours with planes leaving Winnipeg and St. Paul each day at 9 a. m. (Grand Forks Herald, Friday, October 18, 1929, Volume XLVIII, Number 299, Page 11)