Arthur Burns "Pappy" Chalk (September 3, 1888 – May 26, 1977) was an American aviation pioneer and the founder of Chalk's Ocean Airways, once the world's oldest continuously operating airline. Born on a farm in Unionville, Illinois, Chalk was an enrolled Choctaw Freedman.[1] At 11, Chalk left home and moved to Paducah, Kentucky, where he worked as a bicycle mechanic. In 1911, he received flying lessons from the famed pilot Tony Jannus in exchange for repairing Jannus's aircraft. Chalk then purchased his own plane, barnstormed for several years, and relocated to Miami in 1917.[2]
Chalk relocated to Miami in 1917 and established the "Red Arrow Flying Service" at the dock of the Royal Palm Hotel. He initially operated using a small table under a beach umbrella as his office. His early flights included routes to the Bahamian islands, with his aircraft equipped with floats to facilitate water landings. In 1919, Chalk's operation was renamed Chalk's Flying Service, and he inaugurated regular flights between Miami and the island of Bimini in The Bahamas[3][4] using a pair of Curtiss Model F and Curtiss Model H floatplanes.[5]
Chalk sold the airline in 1966 but remained actively involved until his death in 1977. He died following a fall while pruning a tree at his home in Miami.[6]
References
edit- ^ "U.S., Native American Citizens and Freedmen of Five Civilized Tribes, 1895–1914". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
- ^ "Chalk's Ocean Airways". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
- ^ "May 26, 1977, page 1 - The Miami News at Newspapers.com". Retrieved 2024-09-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Homan, Lynn M.; Reilly, Thomas (1999). Wings Over Florida. Arcadia Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-7385-0185-7.
- ^ Bluffield, Robert (19 November 2014). Over Empires and Oceans: Pioneers, Aviators and Adventurers - Forging the International Air Routes 1918-1939. Tattered Flag. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-9576892-6-8.
- ^ "May 27, 1977, page 10 - Playground Daily News at Newspapers.com". Retrieved 2024-09-03 – via Newspapers.com.