Richard Adams Henson (December 12, 1910 – June 12, 2002) was an American test pilot, flight school operator, and founder of the modern "commuter airline" concept.

Biography

Henson was a test pilot for Fairchild Aircraft Corporation during the Depression. He also flew for hire out of the Hagerstown Airport. In 1932, he purchased the Blue Ridge Flying Service and renamed it Henson Flying Service. Prior to World War II, Henson formed a

Civilian Pilot Training Program The Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) was a flight training program (1938–1944) sponsored by the United States government with the stated purpose of increasing the number of civilian pilots, though having a clear impact on military prepare ...

flight school, training pilots in the

Fairchild PT-19 The Fairchild PT-19 (company designation Fairchild M62) is an American monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces, Royal Air Force, RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF during World War II. Design ...

. In 1962, Henson started the pioneering Hagerstown Commuter, a low cost, rapid turnaround airline servicing Washington, D.C., and Hagerstown. Henson started with

Beechcraft Model 18 The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beechcraft, Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 ...

Twin engine aircraft. In 1979, the need for increased hangar space for an ever enlarging fleet and room to construct training facilities instigated a move of Henson Aviation operations to

Salisbury, Maryland Salisbury ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. Salisbury is the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region, with a population of 33,050 at the 2020 United States census ...

, completed by 1981. Henson partnered with

Allegheny Airlines Allegheny Airlines was a local service carrier that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979, with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which i ...

, creating one of the first

code sharing A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

arrangements with a major airline flying

Beechcraft Model 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by American manufacturer Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, deriv ...

, and

Shorts 330 The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...

aircraft. Henson later partnered with Piedmont, creating "Henson, the Piedmont Regional Airline". This later was merged with

US Air US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it was renamed Allegheny Airlines an ...

, the name

Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. ( ) is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in Wicomico County, Maryland, near the Salisbury, Maryland, city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American ...

has been reapplied to commuter code sharing partners. In 1984, Henson helped found the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, as one of the first board members. In 1990, Henson founded the Richard A. Henson Foundation, Inc., a philanthropic organization dedicated to improving communities in and around Salisbury Maryland. Endowments included a multimillion-dollar gift to create the Richard A. Henson School of Science and Technology in 1988 and the Richard A. Henson Medical Simulation center in 2012. Henson remained an active pilot until the age of 90.

Honors

Hagerstown Regional Airport Hagerstown Regional Airport (Richard A. Henson Field) is in Washington County, Maryland, Washington County, Maryland, five miles north of Hagerstown, Maryland and a half mile (800 m) from the Maryland/Pennsylvania border. The airport is off ...

is named Richard A. Henson Field The

University of Maryland Eastern Shore University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Princess Anne, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. It is classified among "Research Colleges and Universities" ...

in the town of

Princess Anne, Maryland Princess Anne is a town in Somerset County, Maryland, United States, that also serves as its county seat. Its population was 3,290 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland–Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is hom ...

named its conference center located on the campus after Richard A. Henson. The Richard A. Henson Cancer Institute is based out of the Peninsula Regional Medical Center in

Henson endowed the School of Science of

Salisbury University Salisbury University is a public university in Salisbury, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1925, Salisbury University is a member of the University System of Maryland, with a fall 2022 enrollment of 7,123. Salisbury University offers unde ...

in 1988 creating the Richard A. Henson School of Science and Technology. Annually the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore awards the ''Award of Excellence honoring Richard A. Henson'' in recognition of contributions to the community. Henson Scout Reservation (Camp Nanticoke) is named in honor of Richard Henson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henson, Richard A. 1910 births 2002 deaths Businesspeople in aviation Aviators from Maryland People from Hagerstown, Maryland 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Maryland Airline founders