Cordova Air Services [Cordova Airlines]

My interest in early Alaska aviation, made me buy a book about Merle K. 'Mudhole' Smith. This book enabled me to digest some info on an early Alaskan airline: Cordova Air Services, later renamed Cordova Airlines (1934 - 1968).
This also follows my page History of Alaska Air Carriers

In 1939 Mudhole Smith accepted the position of President & General Mngr of Cordava, after the death of “Kirk” Kirkpatrick in a crash (10Apr39). Kirk had founded Cordova Air Service in 1934 with some local businessmen (of which many had connections with the Copper River & Nortwestern Railway – which ran from Cordova to the Kennecott copper mines). Merle K. “Mudhole” Smith had been flying for Kirk.
Except the air transport, Cordova A/S also ran an aircraft repair shop at Eyak Lake airstrip.
Cordova Air Service started a subsidiary –at some point- at McCarthy: Copper Belt Line; the planes featured a large copper belt painted around the fuselage.

In the Fall of 1938 the mines closed, having considerable negative effect on business. In 1939 a Travel Air 6000 joined the fleet (earlier types included Bellanca –which arrived in Alaska by steamship- and Stearman, numbers of aircraft unspecified).

During 1939 Cordova Air Services developed services to Chitina and McCarthy and increased frequency to Anchorage; Wrangell, Juneau and Petrersburg were also among the destinations. Fishing trips in the area, such as to Tebay Lakes, were promoted too.
In 1939 the newly appointed Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB, not long hereafter renamed Federal Aeronautics Administration -FAA) came to Alaska to hold hearings and make recommendations that would have a profound effect on flying in Alaska (as well as in the rest of the USA).

I was mighty pleased that John Cooney, after many years since I started this page, has gone through the trouble of sending me a photo for this endeavour (august 2016). John wrote (august 2016): "My mother as seen in the photo was a flight attendant for Cordova." Perhaps this photo was taken at the airport of Cordova (now named Merle K. 'Mudhole' Smith Airport, in honour of a pilot who in 1939 became president of Cordova Airlines and which used the airport as a hub between 1934 and 1968), but seeing the gravel and crew perhaps waiting for passengers to board, this may well be somewhere more remote in Alaska, part of the network of Cordova Airlines at the time.

During 1941 the Morrison-Knudson Company had contracts to build a series of airfields and FAA stations in Alaska. Cordova AS did brisk business with them. Smitty was the 1st to land on the new Eielson AFB field in Fairbanks.
Harold Gillam, another famous name in Alaska’s pioneering aviation history, became chief pilot for the Morrison-Knudson Company.
Gillam also ran his own Gillam Airways. He made Mudhole a job offer and it seems he accepted in some form or capacity (earnings going to Cordova A/S?) as he did their Boeing 80-A planes (at that time they had 2).; he also flew the big Pilgrim for them in 1942, on the Kuskokwim Mail Run (visiting a dozen or more small communities on the river).

In 1943 the CAB denied a merger between Cordoba A/S and Alaska Star Airlines.

In 1944 the stockholders asked Smitty to return as the company was in bad shape: the management had moved to Anchorage, the fleet was down to only 1 plane, a Bellanca (and only 1 pilot!) and local bush services were neglected.
By this time Smitty had little left to do with Morrison-Knudson, operations were winding down. Mudhole Smith returned to the airline in Jul44 and decided to buy out all stockholders.
He also bought an SM8A Stinson from Jack Peck in Anchorage; with these 2 planes he began to rebuild the bush service that had languished during the height of the war. Later Smity added a couple of SR10 Stinsons and from Bristol Bay Air Service he acquired an SR9 Gull-Wing Stinson (capable of carrying 4 passengers!).

The network saw scheduled services between Cordova and Anchorage, 4 times weekly and once a week he flew Cordova-Fairbanks (stopping at Valdez, Copper Center, Gulkana, Gakona and Paxson).

Next fleet acquisition (1945) was a Lockheed L-10E Electra, which he bought from Morrison-Knudson for usd 25.000,- It was the 1st all-weather, twin-engine airplane between Anchorage and Cordova. The Electra was kept for a year, sold in Seattle, and a DC-3 was bought - which came in handy during a major shipping strike; after the strike was over the DC-3 proved to be too big and was sold.

In 1950 Mudhole Smith was found to be suffering from diabetes and as a result his flying days were over.
The company expanded and in 1951 saw 10 aircraft in operation of which 3 were twin-engined.

In 1952 Cordova A/S merged with Christansen Flying Service (led by pioneer bush pilot Haakon Christiansen).
A visit to California’s Knotts Berry Farm inspired Mudhole to open a lodge in McCarthy and fly tourists there.
In Dec.1952 both Valdez and Seward were improved to handle DC-3s and Smitty purchased a DC-3 again.

Both in 1952 and 1953 Cordova Air Services won the Aviation Safety Award; the name of the airline was changed to Cordova Airlines.

In 1953 the new Anchorage IAP opened and operations moved from Merrill Field to the new airport.
When Phillips Petroleum started drilling in the Icy Bay area and needed DC-3 service to Yakataga full time, Smitty added a 2nd DC-3 to his fleet. Chisana was a good hunting area for big game and Merle Smith saw business there, except the runway was too short; he asked the Territory to extend the runway but they (and the FAA) estimated the costs around usd 150.000,- and declined. So Cordova A/S took the job on themselves and got it done for usd 3.500,- …
When the Kennecott mine closed, Cordova Airlines developped it as a tourist destination during the summer. The McCarthy-Kennecott tours proved to be a success over a period of 5 years, but at some point in 1964 or 1965 it was made impossible to continue. This made Merle Smith look for other possibilities and a new destination was found in Canada’s Dawson City in Yukon Territory. Flights started on 21Jun65 and proved to be a big success, thanks to good local cooperation as well as US and Canada governmental departments.
A Curtiss C-46 was used for these flights as well (N7779B suffered substantial damage upon landing at Anchorage 05Sep63, see NTSB report ANC64A0012).

On 27Mar64 a severe earthquake shook southcentral Alaska for 4.5 minutes and a huge tidal wave rampaged along the coast. But Cordova came out relatively unharmed.
When in Aug64 Smith obtained the traffic rights to operate to Juneau, he introduced 2 Convairs to the fleet.

In 1968 Cordova Airlines merged with Alaska Airlines.

-Mudhole Smith, Alaska Flier (from Barnstormer to Bush Pilot) by Lone E.Janson (Alaska Northwest Publishin Company, 1981)

Odds & Ends:

This is a 1966 insignia of the airline:

Cordova Airlines also operated an Aero Commander as can be learned from this page, which reports an accident at Skilak Lake,AK 09Apr56.
Roger Galliett wrote me (Feb.2007): "My dad was the sole survivor of the crash-landing into Tustumena Lake in 1965. They recovered the Grand Commander off the bottom of the lake and flew it back to Anchorage where it sat for many years. I remember him driving us past it and telling us 'That's the plane!' many times. I wonder who ended up with it..."

"Starting in 1925, the Alaska Territorial Legislature authorized the use of Territorial Road Funds, which were managed by the Alaska Road Commission, for the construction of airfields. The same year, the Alaska Road Commission adopted a standard size for airfields, 1,400 by 600 feet. Over the next six years, they constructed over 70 airfields, including fields at both Valdez and Cordova.
In 1934, an airfield at Eyak Lake was constructed with Public Administration Funds. The Thompson Pass Airfield was built in 1936.Better airfields led to the establishment of commercial companies in Cordova and Valdez.
Kirk Kirkpatrick started Cordova Air Service in 1935. In 1939, Merle "Mudhole" Smith purchased Cordova Air Service which later became Cordova Airlines.
Smith's name "Mudhole" commemorates one of his more memorable unsuccessful takeoffs.
Early on, Smith's air service served both the Sound and the Copper River settlements. Later Cordova Airlines offered service to Anchorage, Valdez and the communities of southeast Alaska. Bush pilots from Cordova made bush deliveries to the canneries and mining communities throughout Prince William Sound.
Cordova's Eyak Lake made a perfect fresh water seaplane base in the summer and during the winter, when frozen, was perfect for skis."
From: www.alaska.net/~awss/HAviation1917.html (dead link by 2016)

"The years between the World Wars saw a dramatic rise in tourism during the 20s, a sharp decline during the depression, and a vigorous recovery leading up to World War II.
Several World War I trends continued: a shift in mode of travel from horseback or sledge to automobile, railway, and plane; a growing popularity in "package" tours; a continuing interest in the area by out-of-state owned tourism companies; a rise in more locally owned tourism businesses; and an increase in tourism promotional efforts sponsored by local newspapers, organizations and businesses.
In April 1938, the tourism industry received a shock. E.T. Stannard, president of the Kennecott Copper Corporation, announced the October closing of the Kennecott Copper Mines.
Closing of the CR&NW Railway had a major effect on tourism in both Cordova and Valdez as well as for the roadhouses and towns along the popular Cordova-Chitina-Valdez circle route."
From: www.alaska.net/~awss/HTourism1917.html(dead link by 2016)

Alaska Airlines -- A Snapshot History
Alaska Airlines traces its roots to the hardy pilots who flew the Alaskan "bush" in the 1930s. The airline was assembled through a series of purchases and mergers leading to the creation of Alaska Star Airlines in 1942, which dropped its middle name one year later.
Alaska Airlines won federal approval for its first scheduled route linking Portland, Seattle, Fairbanks & Juneau in 1951.
From the Bush to Berlin, Alaska Airlines grew out of a single-plane company established by Linious McGee in 1932. McGee Airlines merged with Star Air Service in 1934. Under the leadership of Raymond W. Marshall, the airline aggressively pursued further purchases to create Alaska Star Airlines in 1942. The middle name was formally dropped on May 2, 1944, narrowly beating out a competitor who had also applied for the name Alaska Airlines.
Following the end of World War II, Alaska Airlines acquired a fleet of surplus military aircraft, including DC-3, DC-4, and C-46 transports. In addition to providing charter passenger and cargo services in the Pacific Northwest, these planes participated in the 1948 Berlin Airlift (ferrying supplies to the city's "free" Allied zones after Soviet forces sealed the East German border), evacuating Chinese Nationalists during the last stages of the 1949 Communist revolution, and carrying Jews from around the world to the new State of Israel.
It introduced its first jetliners in the 1960s and grew to become a major regional airline.
From:www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=2107

Here is more on Alaska Airline's history: www.alaskaair.com/www2/company/History/Overview.asp

Aerotransport.org (ATDB) has the following on record for aircraft operated:

Photo by Udo Krause, all that remains... (Fairbanks, 07AUG09)
From my database: CF-HQI Reindeer Air Services, ex/Interior Airways, crashed jan'73 near Sach's
Harbour, Northwest Territories, some remains still in place 1995. On check with Everts Air Fuel
during Dec.2001 they claimed to own it, reported as 'hulk @ Sachs Harbor,Banks Island,NWT (Beaufort Sea)'.
TAHS Piston Airliners Production List: 'bought by Clifford R Everts Sep76, at some point brought to
Fairbanks,AK for use of spares'. Ln Jun08 @FAI Everts' off-airport dumpsite, traces of Cordova Airlines titles'.

Lars Opland wrote me in August 2011: Bill Fike's daughter, Tricia Howell, asked me to go ahead and share some photos with aviation-minded people, so here are a couple of scans from her father's slide collection." DC-3-314A N25669 (c/n 2242) flew with Braniff before its career with Cordova Airlines. After that it flew with Alaska Coastal Airlines, Ellis Airlines, Alaska Marine Foods and it ended up with TALA Colombia as HK-2819X and its fate there becomes obscure, perhaps resting in the jungle somewhere in Latin America..

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