CHALLENGER STORIES By Captain Eldon P. Lietz pilot with Challenger and Frontier Airlines, 1947-1980, and others Hi Jake,      I just visited your Challenger site.  The original Challenger Airlines Company started in early 1946 with one or two Twin Engine Beechcraft airplanes they flew from Salt Lake City to Phoenix round trip and stopped at every town in between that had an airport.  I had just been mustered out of the Service and was instructing at Thompson's Flying Service at the time.  How the conversion to Challenger Airlines, Inc.  came about I don't know but your information seems to cover most of that era.  I do know that everyone who was working for the Twin Beech company was hired on Challenger, Inc.  I was working for a flying school in Tucson and Carl Helberg came through one day.  He said Challenger was hiring and was I interested.  I was and was hired a few days later.  I was a copilot fly for $200 a month.  Captains were paid $400 a month.  I was paid to sit in the right seat and keep my mouth shut as much as possible.  I could not possibly add to any of the history that you have compiled but I surely can remember a whole lot of stories about that period of time.  For instance MONEY was VERY scarce at that time.  I went to work about the 7th of November, 1947.  On the 24th of December they called me into the office and gave me $50.  That was the first money I had been paid.  That surely was a lean Christmas.  I guess sitting here reminiscing I could probably write hundreds of pages about incidents on that early airline.  I do know that if I could have found a job anywhere else I would have quit.  I have been grateful ever since that I didn't.      I am so glad that you, and people like Busse in Canada, have taken the time and work to put these things together.  That airline lasted for 40 years and was staffed by the finest people I have ever met in my life.  May God bless each and every one of you. Eldon P. Lietz (7/22/99) OK Jake,      Well here goes.  The early Challenger had a pretty bad maintenance record.  I can remember flying copilot from SLC to BIL on a flight that the main cabin door was broken on the airplane.  The steward, we had male flight attendants, had a long piece of stout rope.  After everything was aboard he tied the rope around the door handle and the other end around the leg of a seat across the aisle from it.  At the next stop he untied the rope and opened the door.  This went on all the way to Billings.      Now mind you this was in the early days. Things did get better eventually.  The Vice President in charge of maintenance didn't even have a mechanic's license.  I was called out about 9 PM one evening to ride copilot on a test flight.  They had changed an engine and needed to check it out.  I was copilot for Capt. Harry Mitchell.  This man eventually left Challenger, went to Bonanza and got fired from that.  He was a certified nut.  However on this evening he really did a bang up job.  We took off, went over Great Salt Lake and run through the tests. The propeller would not feather when we did an engine shut down.  So we flew it back to the airport, they fiddled with it and we tried it again.  Again it would not feather.  This procedure went on for about five or six times.  The last time we started up the engine again and brought it back to the airport.  About five miles out, at full cruise power, that propeller feathered all by itself.  It nearly tore the engine off the wing.  We got back to the hanger and just as we walked into the hanger the Vice President of Maintenance stopped in after a party he had attended.  The mechanics were working on it again.  Harry walked over the the man and suggested that he come along with us on the next test hop.  This was about 2 AM.  The Vice President made it very clear that he would not get on that airplane.  So Harry picked up a piece of lead pipe, walked over to him and told him that he was going on the next test flight.  He could just pick out the way he wanted to get on board.  The guy's face went white and he cancelled the whole thing. Harry and I went back home and went to  bed.      Some of my rememberances I guess shouldn't get out to the general public but all this took place 51 years ago.  At this point in time I guess it doesn't matter anymore.      Challenger was subsidized by the Federal Government.  They paid the operating expenses by hauling mail into places that would never get the service otherwise.  If they made any money it came from passengers.  I can remember we flew for weeks without seeing a single passenger.  That did get better later on however.      Well I will let this be enough for now.  Strange I can remember things like that.  They just seem to pop in out of nowhere.  I have trouble remembering what I ate for breakfast but 51 years ago comes back loud and clear.      Hope you and yours are well and happy.   Warm Regards from EP Eldon P. Lietz (7/23/99) Hi Jake,      Another story.   Regarding the Challenger DC-3 that ran off the runway at SLC.  The Captain was Bill McCrystal.  I was about a 2nd year copilot and not too long after that I checked out as a Captain myself.      We were on the last leg of a flight into SLC from either Denver or Billings, don't remember which.  The weather at Salt Lake was horrible. We were holding on one leg of the Ogden radio range waiting to see if the weather might come up to minimums before we had to proceed to an alternate.  It was night, snowing, the whole nine yards.  The stewardess came up into the cockpit, leaned over Bill and put her hand on the arm rest of his seat.  She said one of the passengers was sick.  I noticed that her hand was jerking and she had trouble holding onto the arm rest.  I got the distinct impression that something was seriously wrong.  I told Bill I would go back and see what the problem was.  I opened the door to the cabin and immediately got a shock.  Several other passengers aided by one of our ground people had this guy across two seats holding an oxygen mask to his face.  What I could see of his face was very black.  He was kicking his legs and jerking his whole body around.  I went back up to the cockpit and told Bill that this guy was in serious trouble.  Bill called the company and they agreed to let him try an instrument approach into SLC.  Of course the weather was below our legal minimums but Bill declared an emergency.  We went ahead and made the approach.  We were landing south on the north south runway. Bill broke out below the clouds just a few feet to the left of the left side of the runway.  I could see it but Bill apparently couldn't.  I told him to turn slightly right and then he picked it up.  He put it on the ground about half way down the runway.  NOW just before we touched down the wind changed from CALM to about 35 knots on our tail directly out of the north.  Add to that the runway was covered with ice.  There was no way Bill could have stopped that thing.      We slid all of the way to the end, hit the boundary fence and tore about a mile of it out of the frozen ground, posts and all.  There was a guy in a DeSoto car driving east on the highway.  Our left wheel hit him right in the center.  We then slid, car, airplane and all across the highway and into the field with one wing almost touching the approach lights at that end of the runway.  Just before we hit Bill reached up and turned off all of the cockpit switches.  He didn't want a fire.  We came to a screeching halt and both of us just sat there.  Then Bill reached up to turn on the switches again.  He was going to call the company on the radio.  I stopped him from doing that.  Then he remarked, "There went a promising career."      OK, no one on the airplane was hurt.  The four people in the car were severely injured.  The company had an ambulance standing by to take care of the sick passenger.  It turned out that the passenger was having an epileptic fit.  Nothing anyone could have done for him at that time. Actually he had recovered when we hit, got off the airplane and climbed onto a bus.  They never even found him for several days after that.  It also turned out that we had a registered nurse aboard.  She knew what the problem with this guy was but said nothing.  At the hearing she said she was not a doctor and did not feel it was her responsibility to diagnose anything.  The ambulance picked up the injured people in the car and got them to the hospital very quickly.      The very last incident I vividly recall is this.  The airplane was standing almost on its nose with the tail in the air.  The left gear was gone.  My overcoat was hanging on a wrack in the tail.  I needed that overcoat.  It was colder than a mother-in-law's kiss out there.  So I climbed the seats just like a ladder.  When I got up there the stewardess was standing there behind the last seat crying her head off. Her name was Batsine Frazier, we called her Batsy.  I put my arm around her and convinced her no one was hurt, everything was OK, got her to stop crying and then put on my coat.  I helped her back toward the cockpit.  The only way off that airplane was out of the small door behind the captain's seat.   She got out that door and stood on the ground.  Just then some JERK said, "My God, you killed everyone in that car."  This just wasn't so but poor Batsy did a little jerking around herself and passed completely out.  They got her to a hospital.  She stayed there for a couple of days.  Then she quit her job and rode a bus back to Denver.  I doubt if she ever got on another airplane.      Of course hearings and legal procedures continued for the next two or three years.  Actually the tower had a major part in all of this.  A cold front was just passing through, the runway was covered with ice and we actually had about a 40 knot tailwind.  The tower NEVER gave us any of this information.  The last word we got was that the runway was OK and the wind was calm. Had that been the case the accident would never have happened.  If that cottin pickin nurse had told us the guy was an epileptic it never would have happened.  Such is life.      OK  That is just exactly as I remember it.  As they say in Texas Y'all take care, y'heah!!  EP EP Lietz (8/8/99) By the way Jake I read that accident report on 276 going through the fence at SLC. I got the blame for that to save everybody else's behind. Challenger head of operations came to me, stabbed me in the chest with his finger, and told me that if I brought the Union into that he would not only fire me but see to it I never got another job as long as I lived. It wasn't that I neglected to inform the Captain of the change in the wind. He was wearing a set of headphones also. If the tower had told us what the wind was he would have heard it himself. No, The company was in trouble for things they did wrong and the tower was in trouble for what they did wrong. I had to be the goat or a whole lot of people would be in trouble. EP Lietz (7/8/00) Yes Jake, Back in the early Challenger days Captain Bob Nicholson and 1st Officer Jack Schade were flying a trip through CYS in 276.  Jack was flying I believe.  Actually my account of this is hearsay.  I never did get any first hand account of this.  Anyway the runway had ice on it.  The Captain became apprehensive about something and applied brakes.  The airplane slid for a short distance and then hit a patch of dry concrete.  Good old 276 wound up on its nose then.  As far as PUB is concerned I know nothing about that.  It was a good airplane and no reason for it to have had all  of these problems.  It surely wasn't the airplane's fault.  Rocky Crane finally stopped all of that.  He took off at DEN with the controls locked.  The airplane was a total loss along with killing Rocky and his copilot.  For all of that the airline did pretty well.  In all of those years they only killed one passenger.  Of course that is one too many but when you look at United, American, Delta and some of the others the record is fantastic.      By the way I think it is really commendable the way you are keeping the history of this airline alive.  I thank you and I am sure everyone else does also.   EP EP Lietz (8/8/99) That was even better'n the last time you gave me the story, more detailed.  One addendum: I got from Jack Schade who got to the aircraft and saw Bill still sitting in the left seat filling out the log book. Jack suggested he forget the log and get off the airplane!  Knowing Bill McChystal as meticulous as he was, that didn't surprise me any.  I saw his log books for the DC-3 honor he won (Jack Schade and I coerced him into entering the foray as Bill was shy and reticent about that). Anyway, his log books were a work of art with penmanship and neatness in addition to being totally accurate.  He was wonderful to fly with, always the gentleman. I miss him. Sincaeronautically, Billy Walker (8/8/99) Yep Billy,   McCrystal was a really fine gentleman.  Yeah, before we hit that fence he very meticulously went throught the cockpit turning off everything.  After we got through sliding he just sat there for a minute and then started turning everything back on again.  He originally turned the switches off in case of a fuel leak.  Then he starts to turn them back on.  I grabbed his hand and stopped him.  He was going to call the company and tell them we had arrived.  He thought for a minute and then agreed that they had better stay off.      I guess even today I am bitter about that accident.  Scott Keller managed to make the whole thing look like it was my fault.  He claimed I had reached across the cockpit and set the Captain's altimeter wrong. Of course Doug MacDonald had gone out there directly after the accident and photographed the instrument panel and the cockpit.  Everything was OK including the altimeter setting.  A copilot DID NOT SET THE CAPTAIN'S ALTIMETER.  The captain did that.  My short arms couldn't have reached it anyway.  Well in the end all I got was a month off without pay.  In the long run it  didn't hurt me any.  Actually there wasn't any evidence that either one of us did anything wrong.  I know for sure that I would have hated to be in Bill's position.  The weather was below minimums, the passenger looked to me like he was dying.  I am glad I did not have to make the decision Bill had to make.  Of course Bill would never have let anybody die if he could help it so in we went.   Bill did land a little far down the runway but given the conditions as we were told they were that would have been OK.  He could have made it with room to spare.  Considering just how really bad the weather was that night I think he did a damned fine job even finding the airport.  I can still sit here and picture that runway just as it looked to me that night when we broke out of the clouds.  That was not one of my more fun nights.  I also can still see that old DeSoto driving down the highway and passing directly under my copilot seat.  I don't think that poor devil even knew what hit him.  He is driving down a highway in a snowstorm.  Blooey, out of the snow and dark comes an airplane and runs over him.  I'll bet he never forgot that either.  There were four people in that car.  All of them were hurt.  One of them had a broken pelvis.  However they all lived and recovered to live a normal life.  They actually were in a hospital less than a half hour after the accident.  I guess they were on their way to the hospital before I even got out of the airplane.      Say, these memories just keep coming back don't they?   Y'all take care, Y'heah!"   EP EP Lietz (8/8/99) The 4Aug1948 prospectus for Challenger Airlines that I have states that the airline bought their first two DC3s from Capital Airlines on 8Feb47, six days after Summit changed their name to Challenger. They made a $25,000 down payment for aircrafts NC65135 & NC65385. Scheduled air service began 3May47. As of 4Aug48 the prospectus says the airline had four DC3s. According to an article in the Fall 1968 issueof the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Challenger had four DC3s at the time of the merger to form Frontier, 1Jun50 - NC65135, NC65276, NC65385, and NC53376. So, it appears Challenger got NC65276 sometime between Feb47 and Aug48. If anybody has info on the date of procurement, price, seller, etc., please let me know. We may be able to track it further back. Russ, I have some photocopies of news articles about the PHX incident that Ken Schultz sent me - I could make you copies but quality of photos not good. Jake Lamkins (8/9/99) Another interesting side bar to that is that one of my Dad's friends and partners, Charlie Hirsig, founded Summit Airways the predecessor of Challenger in 1942.  Challenger was reorganized in 1947. One of my closest friends, from childhood, is Jimmy Hirsig, Charlie and Marion's son.  I was up at his ranch on the Colorado/Wyoming border two weeks ago and rummaged through a bunch of the old records.  There was several letters of correspondence between Marian Hirsig and Ed Gerhart (FAL VP) who was doing research for a book on the Frontier story.  I have those to share with Ken Schultz and others when I find the time to make copies. Charlie Hirsig was killed in a Luscombe 8A buzzing my Dad's and his brother's ranch "The Pichinoe Ranch" on the Little Laramie in 1945. Charlie was a flight training supervisor for my Dad's CPT University Program for Plains Airways, Inc.  Plains Airways had three main training bases, Cheyenne, Laramie and Ft. Morgan, Colorado.  Additionally, they had airplanes and instructors at various other airports in the Wyoming/Colorado border area.  Wheatland and Sheridan, for example, were two places I recall being mentioned. After Charlie Hirsig "flew West," George W. Snyder took over and went through a series of applications, etc., before changing the name in a re-organization plan to Challenger Airways.  Then, in June of 1950 the merger between Monarch, Challenger and Arizona airways took place. I will attach a photo of Charlie Hirsig standing by my father's old "Woody" station wagon.  You can see the Plains Airways logo on the door.  This car was later totaled by Plains instructor, Johnny Hart (no relation to deceased retired FAL captain Fred Hart who learned to fly at Plains Airways)who died in the crash.  The accident occurred on a stormy night on the summit of the highway between Cheyenne and Laramie. There were several Frontier pilots trained at Plains Airways.  In addition to Fred Hart, Warren Heckman learned to fly at the Laramie base and Ev Aden received some of his training at the Cheyenne base. I son't know where Eve learned his expertise on ADF operation, but he was the world's renowned expert on low freq navigation.  FAL loaned him to Icelandic Airlines to set up their system.  He was really something as a professional airman except he bent all the DC-3 throttles forward...(grin). While I knew Marion well, I was too young to remember Charlie Hirsig. My dad always remembered him as a great guy and very dynamic. Sincaeronautically, Billy Walker (8/9/99) Jake, this may shed some light on the last two airplanes Challenger bought.  NOW be aware that this is hearsay.  I did not go to work for Challenger until November 1947.  They were in full operation by then.      Sometime after War Two ended the US Government offered military C-47 aircraft for sale to Veteran's only.  The selling price was $10,000 which was VERY low for this type aircraft.  Captains I flew with told me this.  This included Sam Grande and Scott Keller.  They said that Challenger had one or more pilots purchase two of these C-47 aircraft which were then modified to DC-3 configuration.  Who did the actual purchasing I have no idea.  Most Challenger pilots were ex-military.      Scott Keller was in Troop Carrier based in England during War Two. He told me that one of these aircraft purchased had been used to tow gliders.  It was supposed to be several inches longer than the ordinary C-47 because it had actually stretched during the many glider tows it had done.  Now, whether this was 276 or 376 I couldn't possibly say.  I suspect that this is true because I heard it several times from Captains that were in a position to know.      As I say I was not around when the actual purchase took place but I have every reason to believe this is the way it happened.  Scott Keller claimed to have actually flown one of these when he was on active duty during the war.    It is unfortunate that we can't be in actual contact with some of the early Challenger Captains.  I am sure they could verify this.      Jake, I understand you worked in the station at Fort Smith.  I can't ever remember coming in contact with you but I flew Boeing 727 trips through Fort Smith many, many times.  If that is where you worked I had to have seen you at one time or another. Have a nice day.   EP Lietz (8/9/99) Thanks, Eldon, for the info. When you started in Nov47, did Challenger have the four DC3s already? If so, that narrows down the period in which we know 276 was purchased - sometime between 8Feb47 and Nov47. I worked FYV 1964-68, STL 68-70 JAC in the Summers of 1970-71-72, then back to FYV til we pulled out of here in '82. The next 4 years were ATL SAM MAF DEN (it kinda got blurry then). I'm sure some where along the line I've stuck my right arm over your right shoulder with a wad of wt/bal papers. When did you retire? Jake Lamkins (8/9/99) Hi Jake,      I retired in April of 1980.  I did fly into all of the stations you mentioned at one time or another so we had to have crossed paths one time or another.  Too bad we didn't get better acquainted at the time. I can only say that my time with Frontier were the most memorable years of my life.  We had a group of employees in every department that were unsurpassed by anyone.  I include all of the folks that came from Central also. I have often wondered how all of that came about.  Our management was not always that good but the employees were.      I do believe that Challenger had all four airplanes when I came to work in November 1947.  That has been a very long time ago and my memory isn't absolutely perfect but I do believe all four airplanes were there.  I have most of my old log books stored away somewhere in a box. I will try to find the time to locate them and check on that period. The N numbers of every airplane I flew would be there along with the dates.      By the way, if purchasing a good C-47 for $10,000 seems ludicrous try this one.  In 1946 I purchase a nearly brand new BT-13 airplane for $350 from good old Uncle Sam. It turned out that I could afford to buy it at that price but I couldn't afford to buy all the gas it took to run the thing.  That 450 horsepower engine drank down gasoline at a fearsome rate.  Even at the low prices of that era it was hard for me to fly it very much.  I finally had to sell it.      The end of World War Two was a ridiculous time.  I came back to the USA in November of 1945.  Everything was in short supply.  My father ran a Planing Mill.  4X8 sheets of plywood were almost impossible for him to get.  On Guam I saw piles of that stuff 40 feet high that they took out and burned.  I watched them take a bulldozer and push a brand new B-24 into the ocean.  Regular AM radios were very hard to get.  I watched them take a whole boatload of all band receivers, that could pick up Denver radio station KOA from Okinawa, and dump them into the bay. These were very sophisticated for that time.  They were the standard equipment on our C-46's and in the B-29.  They would receive almost every available frequency from short wave to standard broadcast stations.  They wouldn't even let us have one to put in our tent.  You could purchase, from the government, a war surplus 12 guage Browning semi-automatic shotgun for $25.  These also were new.  I sometimes wonder about all of that.      OK Jake,  I really enjoy these little memory studies.  Let's keep in touch.   Warm Regards from Mrs. Lietz' little boy EP EP Lietz (8/10/99) Jake, Here is information on DC-3, N 65276,  it is copied from a word processor to e-mail so the form and structure is usually changed.  If you want to use any of it for the Alumni List you may have to do some editing. ============================================================================ FRONTIER AIRLINES     DC-3    N65276 REFERENCE    DC-3    N65276    HISTORICAL DATA: Date of Manufacture,  December 3, 1943    Douglas Aircraft  Co. Model  C-47A. U.S. Army No.   42-100739. Manufacturers Serial No.    19202. Operated within the U. S. by the 8th Air Force,   Feb 18, 1944  to Aug 5, 1945. Declared surplus property to be sold by the War Assets Administration. March 2, 1946,  Aircraft released from Military Service. Total Time while in Military Service,  1045:45 Hours. March 2, 1946, Sold at Little Rock, Arkansas, to Danny A. Fowlie of Grand Prairie, TX., for $20,000.00. March 18, 1946,  Sold to Executive Transport Corporation, Grand Prairie, TX., for $1.00, and other considerations. April 16, 1946,  Application for Aircraft Registration as a DC-3, by Danny Fowlie, President of Executive Transport Corp., Grand Prairie, TX. April 24, 1946,  Aircraft Registration Certificate assigned as NC 65276 to Executive Transport Corporation, Grand Prairie, TX. The Aircraft was converted  by Texas Engineering and Manufacturing Co. Grand Prairie, TX.,  to a Douglas DC-3C, 32 PCLM.  (30 seats in the cabin, plus Pilot and Co-Pilot ). May 24, 1946,  Conversion completed, and Aircraft sold to Pennsylvania Central Airlines Corp., National Airport,  Washington, D. C., for $1.00 and other considerations. March 11, 1947,  Sold to Summit Airways Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, for $10.00. March 13, 1947,  Chattel Mortgage by Summit Airways Inc., to Mortgagor - The First National Bank of Salt Lake City, UT.,  Promissory note of $47,869.89. Signed by, Summit Airways Inc., George W. Snyder Jr. President.  C. Allen Elgrin, Secretary. April 17,1947,  CAA Aircraft Registration Certificate issued to Challenger Airlines Co. June 1, 1950,  Bill of sale.  Challenger Airlines Co.,  to Frontier Airlines Co. January 2, 1968,  FAA memo from Supervising Inspector, WE-ACDO-34, to the Aircraft Registration Branch. Subject:  Frontier Airlines DC-3C   N 65276  Records. Aircraft Records can be deleted on Frontier Airlines’  DC-3C,  N 65276, S/N  19202, for on December 21, 1967,  the subject aircraft was involved in a major accident on take-off, resulting in the crash and burning of the total airframe and structure. Signed:  L. E. Layton January 16, 1968,  Letter from Frontier Airlines Inc. to Aircraft Registration Branch, FAA Oklahoma City,  OK. .............  The information you received regarding our Douglas DC-3C Aircraft, N 65276 was correct.  It was totally destroyed on December 21, 1967.    We would appreciate  if you would cancel the Registration of this Aircraft ...............Signed:    William M. Groody     Vice Pres. - Treasurer January 26, 1968,  Aircraft Registration Number canceled by FAA.      ----------------------------------- The above information was extracted from the FAA - OKC, Aircraft Record File of DC-3C,  N 65276,  SN.  19202. =================================================================  ================================================================= HISTORICAL EVENTS March 17, 1947,  The CAB reissued the Temporary Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity of Summit Airways, to Challenger Airlines Company.                                CAB Order Serial NO. E-397. May 3, 1947,    Challenger Airlines Company Inauguration of Service. January 27, 1949,    Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Challenger Airlines Co. Quote:  From CAB Resume’ of U. S. Air Carrier Accidents,  Calendar year 1949. A landing was made which was normal except for being slightly faster than usual. As brakes were applied they locked in sliding over a small snow covered area and upon reaching the dry concrete, the plane nosed up. The Wyoming State Tribune, Cheyenne, WY.  Friday, January 28, 1949, reported the Incident.  Challenger Airlines flight No. 1.  ....Propellors of the plane were bent when they nicked the ground. Crew;  Captain Bob Nicholson, Co-Pilot Jack Schade, Stewardess, Eleanor Bastar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- January 2, 1950,    Salt Lake City, Utah.    Challenger Airlines Co. Flight 7. Quote:  From CAB Resume’ of U. S. Air Carrier Accidents,  Calendar year 1950. An instrument approach was made under conditions below company minimums due to seriously ill passenger aboard.    Landing was made straight in, on runway 16 having a NNW wind at 10 MPH.    Aircraft touched down 2500-3000 feet from head of runway, remaining in a tail-high attitude.    Full brakes were used, however, aircraft failed to decelerate sufficiently to stop on remaining 3500-4000 feet, and skidded through boundary fence and across a highway.  A car on highway was struck by left nacelle and dragged 40 feet.    Copilot, who had been communicating with tower, failed to inform Captain of wind change.    Runway was snow covered and slippery. Newspaper articles: The Salt Lake Morning Tribune, Tuesday, January 3, 1950. The Denver Post, Tuesday January 3, 1950. Crew; Captain William McCristoll, of Salt Lake City.  Copilot Eldon Leetz, of Salt Lake City.  Stewardess, Batsine Frasier of Denver. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ June 1, 1950,    Consolidation-Merger of Arizona Airways, Monarch Airlines, and Challenger Airlines to form Frontier Airlines. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------- Ken Shultz (8/14/99)