Pilot Gilpin was a southwest charter and air transport operator. Although his name was Charles, he went by Bill.

In the mid 1920s he was chauffeur for Col. Jack Greenway, a principal stockholder in Calumet Mining Company. They drove between Ajo, Phoenix, Tucson, Douglas and Bisbee, AZ for business. Being rough roads, without air conditioned cars, they soon acquired an airplane and exploited Gilpin's reputation as a well-known pilot in southwest Arizona and northern Mexico.

Col. Greenway died in 1926. After that Gilpin carried passengers mostly along the southern tier between Los Angeles – Lordsburg – El Paso. It is during these flights we find him landing at Tucson (right column).

In1930, Greenway's widow went into the passenger business with Mr. Gilpin under the name Gilpin and Greenway Airlines Company, Inc., or G&G Airlines. "Gilpin", as the line was called, grew into one of the largest fixed base companies in the southwest. G&G flew between Los Angeles and Tijuana, carrying "parched" Californians to the tracks and gambling casinos in Mexico (remember, Prohibition was still the law of the land until December, 1933).

Image, left is the front of a Gilpin timetable from March 15,1933. Below is the brochure opened up to reveal the schedules and pricing.

Bill also flew Mrs. Greenway on some of her business trips and made charter flights. During one charter to Mexico City in July 1932, he made a forced landing and was killed instantly when the plane's engine detached and struck him on the head. His four passengers were injured, but survived.

Please direct your browser to The Charles W. "Bill" Gilpin Image and Document Collection. This Collection provides additional views of Gilpin, his family, airplanes, and documentation related to his airline.

Following Gilpin's death, Mrs. Greenway gave control of the airline to Walter Douglas, Jr., who continued operating the Tijuana run until the end of Prohibition. Douglas then moved his fleet to Tucson where he set up operations at the Davis-Monthan Airfield (see the link for images and text related to the "Gilpin" operation at Tucson).

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Dossier 2.1.63

UPLOADED: 08/23/05 REVISED: 09/03/06, 11/18/08, 12/09/08