HANFORD TRI-STATE/MID-CONTINENT AIRLINES 1930-1952 a history of the airline through its timetables
Mid-continent airlines was born as Hanford Tri-state Airlines in 1928 . As its name suggests , the company operated services to 3 states : Minneapolis ( Minnesota), Omaha (Nebraska) and Bismark (North Dakota) from Sioux City in Iowa. HTSA merged with Rapid Air transport in December 1933 and was known for a time as Hanford-Rapid Airlines .
We know very few things about Rapid Air Transport. It started operations in March 30, 1930 with a route from Omaha to St.Louis , at the time of the merger R.A.T was operating the following flights
FL1 : Omaha-St Joseph-Kansas City- St Louis
FL2 : Omaha-St Joseph-Kansas City
All operations were made by the Lockheed Vega
After the Air mail scandal in 1934, Hanford was awarded a mail contract, specifically the company was awarded a portion of the CAM 18 on July 3, 1934 NW-SE : Sioux Falls-Huron -Aberdeen-Bismark-Mandan-Aberdeen- Huron
SE-NW : Sioux Falls-Minneapolis-Saint Paul
September 1,1936 : Kansas City-Coffeyville-Tulsa-Coffeyville
January 1,1937 : Sioux City-Minneapolis
February 5,1937 : Minneapolis-Huron
May 17 ,1937 : Omaha-Minneapolis
September 9,1937 : Watertown
Northwest purchased from Hanford Airlines the route Fargo-Winnipeg on December 31,1934.
1935 is an important in the history of the company as the founder of the airline dies and his father took over the reign of the company.
The timetable dated August 1,1935
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
FL1 : St. Paul-Minneapolis-Sioux Falls-Omaha-Kansas City operated by Ford trimotors
FL2 : Bismark-Aberdeen-Huron-Sioux Falls operated by a 4-seat Lockheed Vega
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| HANFORD AIRLINES 1935 Route Network 1359 km |
In 1936, Mr.Hanford Sr. sells the company to Thomas Fortune Ryan III .The company moves its HQ to Kansas City and acquires a fleet of Lockheed Electras (10 passenger seat capacity)
The timetable dated November 1,1936
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
shows Tulsa and Sioux City as new additions to the company's network whereas Sioux Falls disappears from the network .
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| HANFORD AIRLINES 1936 Route Network 1690 km |
1937 THE CHIEF LINE OF THE MID CONTINENT AREA
The newly introduced Lockheed Electra are called the chief liners
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| Hanford Airlines Lockheed Electra Ed Coates collection |
and the company names the route Minneapolis-Omaha-Kansas City-Tulsa the SILVER ARROW EXPRESS .
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
1938 The single most important event of the year is the change of the name from Hanford Airlines to Mid-Continent Airlines. The timetable dated April 24,1938
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| HANFORD AIRLINES 1938 Route Network 2037 km |
shows Watertown as a new addition to the network and the return of St Joseph on the map.
1939 The timetable dated February 1,1939
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
shows no changes in the network of the company
1940 ,the company introduces the Lockheed lodestar
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| Lockheed Lodestar from the Ed Coates collection |
into its fleet providing a new level of comfort to its passengers. The airline is given new authorities to serve the following Minneapolis to St Louis via Rochester and Ottumwa , Des Moines to Kansas City and Bismarck to Minot. New CAM dated November 1, 1940 adds Bismarck, Mandan and Minot
1941 THE GREAT PLAINS ROUTE
reflects the 1940 new additions to the network
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
The company baptizes its routes as follows : The KANSAS CITIAN : Minneapolis -Sioux City-Omaha-Kansas City
The MISSOURIAN : Minneapolis-Rochester-Des Moines-Ottumwa-St Louis operated by the Lockheed Lodestar
The Corn Husker : Minneapolis-Watertown-Huron-Sioux City-Sioux-Falls-Omaha-Kansas City operated by the Lockheed Lodestar
The Dakotan : Minneapolis-Sioux Falls-Huron-Aberdeen-Bismarck-Minot.
The other lines were operated by the Lockheed Electra
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| MID-CONTINENT 1941 Route Network 4239 km |
1943
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
due to the war , the timetable reflects a decrease in activity as many destinations will be suppressed compared to 1941:St Joseph, Ottumwa, Huron, Bismarck and Minot. The 2nd afternoon daily flight to St Louis will be called the Cardinal flight . All operations will be performed by the Lockheeed Lodestar
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| MID-CONTINENT 1943 Route Network 2852 km |
1944
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
will see the return of Huron and Joplin an in-between Kansas City and Tulsa. . New CAM dated February 19,1944 adds Joplin
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| MID-CONTINENT 1944 Route Network 3024 km |
1945 The year marks the introduction of the 21-passenger seat of the DC3
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| DC3 Mid-Continent Airlines from the Ed Coates collection |
on the company's routes New CAM dated August 10, 1945 adds Tulsa-Texarkana-Shreveport-New Orleans and an other dated September 18, 1945 adds Fort Smith
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| MID-CONTINENT 1945 Route Network 3234 km |
1946
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
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| MID-CONTINENT 1946 Route Network 4914 km |
witnesses a major development in the network of the company, the Tulsa route is extended to New Orleans via Shreveport on one hand and via Muskogee, Fort Smith and Texarkana on the other hand . New CAM dated August 15,1946 adds Muskogee
Mason City is added as a stop on the Rochester-Des Moines line. The company becomes an all DC3 operator.
1947
The expansion of the company continues with the addition of new destinations: a new route from Tulsa to Houston via Paris, Tyler and Longview
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
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| MID-CONTINENT 1947 Route Network 9336 km |
1948 New CAM dated January 23 1948 adds Kansas City-St Louis . The expansion of the company continues with the addition of Ottumwa and Quincy are added on the MSP-St Louis route. Now , the company has 2 longitudinal routes linking the center of North America to the center south of the company
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
1950 Another major development happens in 1950 when the company receives its first Convair 240. When acquired by BRANIFF the airliner quickly disposed them in 1953 , but BN accepted gladly the Convair 340 that Mid Continent ordered before the merger (6 frames).The CAB awards the North Central route 106 to between Sioux City and Chicago
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
The new aircraft is put in service on the following routes : see map below,
according to the timetable dated June 1,1950
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
1951 The penultimate year before the merger with BRANIFF... The company expanded its wings eastwards to include Chicago, Rockford, Dubuque and Milwaukee (as per CAB award) as shown in the table below as per the timetable dated September 9,1951
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| from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com |
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| MID-CONTINENT 1951 Route Network 10878 km |
1952 The company merges with BRANIFF in August 16, 1952 granting BN access to a whole set of new destinations L Milwaukee, Minot, New orleans, Shreveport, St Louis, Minneapolis, Omaha.
Some merger talks with Delta and Northwest in the forties were initiated but were fruitless.
At the time of the merger , Mid Continent had a fleet of 23 DC3 and 6 40-seat Convair 240
Pre-merger Map of BRANIFF January 1952
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| BN 1952 route map 13897 km |
Post merger Map of BRANIFF (April 1953)
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| BN 1953 route map 31124 km |
It is worth noting that, although Mid-Continent merged with Braniff in 1952, Kansas City decided to name the new airport on the basis of Mid-Continent's historic roots (serving the Mid-continent Oil Field).
MISSHAPS
Mid-Continent Airlines suffered 2 fatal accidents (from wikipedia)
On February 27, 1951, a CV240 (N90664) operating flight 355 Minneapolis-Houston crashed on climb out from Tulsa International Airport after the flaps were retracted at a too low air speed following engine problems; all 34 passengers and crew survived, but the aircraft was written off
By Bill Proctor - Gallery page https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/7769776 Photo https://cdn.jetphotos.com/full/4/22742_1392047625.jpg, GFDL 1.2, Link
3 days after on March 2 ,1951 .
Mid-Continent Airlines Flight 16, a Douglas DC-3A (N19928), stalled and crashed at Sioux City, Iowa while making a turn to land, killing 16 of 25 on board. The aircraft was operating a Kansas City-Omaha-Sioux City-Sioux Falls-Huron-Watertown-Minneapolis service
OTHER
Comparison -description table of the Electra and Lodestars
What a fantastic page, thank you very much for writing it!
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