Charles W. Mayse

Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame
Enshrined 1992

Charles Mayse was born near Pawhuska, Oklahoma. He left school at the age of twelve and worked at odd jobs until serving as a truck driver for the Pershing Expedition in 1916. Later, he learned to fly and purchased a JH-4 in which he barnstormed throughout the midwest. He flew in Chihuahua, Mexico for the Rurales in 1920 before returning to barnstorming in the U.S. Charley flew mail for a time in Honduras, but illness forced a return once again to barnstorming. In 1927 he leased the old Tucson Municipal Airport and opened the Mayse Flying School. The Mayse Air Service provided flying instruction, airplane sales, and charter flights.