Charles Eugene Mann

Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame
Enshrined 2014

Charles Mann was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on August 18, 1938. In 1945 his family moved to Chandler, Arizona where he lived until 1958. Charles began flying while still in high school and earned his private pilot’s license soon after graduating in 1956. He attended the Embry Riddle International School of Aviation, the Ross School of Aviation, and Arizona State University between 1957 and 1959. While attending Arizona State he began working as a flight instructor for Arizona Aircoupe. He would continue to work as an instructor and corporate pilot though the 1960s. In 1965, he took on the job of General Manager for Rhodell Aviation and ran one of the most successful aerobatic flying schools in the United States. Mann trained numerous aerobatic competition and airshow pilots helping to launch their careers.

In 1968 Charles fulfilled a lifelong dream to be an airline pilot. He went to work for Bonanza Airlines in March of that year flying the Fokker F27 Friendship. Through several airline mergers through the 1990s he worked for Air West, Hughes Air West, Republic Airlines, and Northwest Airlines flying as first officer and captain of the F27, Douglas DC-9, and Boeing 727. Charles retired from Northwest Airlines in 1996. While working as an airline pilot he continued to own and operate several businesses in the Phoenix area that specialized in aircraft sales and flight simulator training. In 1998 he sold his share of the last of these, Aviation Simulation Technology, Inc., in order to retire. Mann is a member of the Quiet Birdmen and of the Silver Eagles organizations.