Charles P. "Chuck" Doyle
When a person thinks of aviation in Minnesota, the first person that comes
to mind is Charles Lindbergh, and rightfully so. The "Lone
Eagle" was from Little Falls, Minnesota, about 100 miles north of
Minneapolis. There are other famous Minnesotans that were in the aviation
field like Charles "Speed" Holman, stunt pilot and the first
pilot of Northwest Airlines, and the "Flying Grandfather," Max
Conrad. But the man that comes to mind for me is living legend, Charles P.
"Chuck" Doyle.
Doyle was born
May 26, 1916, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the only son of an Irish plumber.
He had a normal childhood, but was always fascinated by things that went
fast and dare doing. Doyle was always a daredevil with an interest in
anything exciting, and he had an "air" about him. When Doyle was
11 years old, he rode his bicycle to the Minneapolis airport to see
Charles Lindbergh, who was touring the nation after his historic flight
across the Atlantic Ocean. It was there that Doyle got his first ride in
an airplane, a U. S. Navy trainer. Doyle’s father, Fred, had been hired to
do the plumbing for the new Navy hanger. He swapped the plumbing work for
2 hours of flight time. Chuck flew for forty minutes and his father flew
for an hour and twenty minutes. As a young teen, Doyle would race his
motorcycle around the streets of Minneapolis. What really caught his
interest, other than girls, was airplanes and flying, so he started
hanging around the Minneapolis Airport, Wold-Chamberlain Field (now
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport MSP). In those days, it was a
huge grass field out in the countryside, that at one time had been a race
track for cars . . . . . . .
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Chuck Doyle transferring to Piper Cub
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