Roy F. Jones

Roy Franklin Jones (October 16, 1893 – February 17, 1974) was an aviator from the Ketchikan, Alaska area. Jones learned to fly in the aviation section of the Army Signal Corps during World War I.[1]

Jones was the first pilot to establish commercial air service in Alaska; after landing his Curtiss MF named Northbird in Ketchikan on July 18, 1922,[2] On the day he arrived, Jones sent a telegraph ahead to say they would arrive in 90 minutes. When they arrived there was a crowd which carried Jones to Pioneer Hall where Joe Ulmer gave a welcome speech. He stayed in the area, using Northbird to operate under the name Northbird Aviation Company. The airline did not prosper, as Jones crashed the flying boat in Heckman Lake in 1923.[1][2][3] Jones continued living in Ketchikan until 1928.[3][4]

Jones later became involved with another Alaskan airline, joining Vern C. Gorst and C.R. Wright to form Pioneer Airways in 1930.[5]

A veteran of World War I as a pilot, during World War II Jones joined the United States Army Air Forces, being stationed at Ladd Field, Fairbanks, from where he retired as a Major in the reserves post-war.[6]

Jones died in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1974.

Legacy

There is a mountain named after Jones in Ketchikan; Roy Jones mountain[7] sits near Northbird mountain, which was, in turn, named after Jones' first airline.

External links

  1. 1 2 Satterfield, Archie. Alaska Bush Pilots in the Float Country (1 ed.). Superior Publishing Company. p. 13.
  2. 1 2 The Alaska Humanities Forum. "Southeast Alaska - 1922-1942 Between Two Wars". Alaska's History & Cultural Studies.
  3. 1 2 Allen, June (May 21, 2002). "Ketchikan's mysterious pigeons: Who knew!". SitNews.
  4. ↑ Jones, Roy Franklin. "Roy F. Jones manuscript collection, 1922-1973". Alaska State Library - Historical Collections.
  5. ↑ Haynes, Eddy (2004). "Pioneer Airways". The Airlines of Alaska - Then and Now.
  6. ↑ Dickson, Jr., Roy; Dickson McLaren, Dorothy (eds.). "Roy Dickson 1930s Alaska Bush Pilot".
  7. ↑ "Roy Jones Mountain, AK". Lat-Long.com.
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