Flagstaff History: Kolb Brothers planned to buy passenger plane for flights over Grand Canyon

100 years ago

1926: Not at all satisfied with being world-famed conquerors of the Colorado River along its worst thousand miles through Grand, Marble, Boulder and other great gorges it traverses; then, still unsatisfied with the thrill they got a few years ago from riding in the first airplane flight over Grand Canyon, Kolb Brothers now are getting all set to buy a big passenger plane and fly across every day. Some people can get thrills through seeing pictures of the other fellow’s stunts and hearing them described. The pictures of their hair-raising experiences on the Colorado River the Kolb Brothers daily show in their Grand Canyon studio, convince such people that the quiet-voiced lecturer, Emory Kolb, ought to be well content the rest of his life with no exploits more hazardous than swatting flies or walking up and down stairs. But Emory is going to establish an air route over the canyon. He has completed his South Rim landing field, five miles from the studio. It is south of and close to the railroad. Recently an aviator landed safely the wrong way of the field at 60 miles an hour. The North Rim landing, at V.T. park, will be 12 miles from the edge of the canyon. There is a lot of open park space there and a good field can be easily prepared. The North Rim, however, presents a problem more difficult than the south, in that it is 1,400 feet higher. It will require a powerful machine to raise from the ground in that thin air.