A pioneer in the development of a modern airport in Duluth from its beginnings as a cow pasture with a couple of sod runways will be inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame next year.
Earl Omar "Ole" Olson, who had been a barnstormer in the 1920s and early 1930s, helped select an old work farm in 1927 as the future site of the Duluth International Airport, was recently selected by the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame board members.
According to the Hall of Fame:
The Duluth airport, then called the Williamson-Johnson Municipal Airport, had a single hangar when it was established in 1930. Olson, an early and persistent promoter of aviation in Duluth, began working at the airport in 1937 in maintenance and became the airport manager in 1940.
He guided the airport through major Works Progress Administration construction of paved runways. He helped establish the Civil Air Patrol in Duluth during World War II, and worked with the War Training Service to prepare and train military pilots.
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After World War II, he worked with government officials and the U.S. Air Force to establish the Duluth Air National Guard Base and the Duluth Air Force base.
In 1950, when he was 58, Olson was named America's outstanding airport manager of the year.
When he retired in 1965, his list of friends included President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chief Justice Earl Warren, General Billy Mitchell and aviator Roscoe Turner.
Olson will be inducted into the Hall of Fame April 20, 2013. He will join previous Duluth inductees Wayne C. Gatlin, John R. Hed, Scott Anderson, Raymond T. Klosowski and Oliver A. Rosto.
