Charles H. Blosser

Charles H. Blosser was the namesake of Blosser Municipal Airport in Concordia, Kansas. A longtime airplane enthusiast, Blosser owned and ran the airport privately until transferring it to the city of Concordia.

Aviation accomplishments

In 1935, Blosser was honored by the Concordia Chamber of Commerce for his "heroic services during the Republican River flood" in June of that year. Blosser would fly over flooded areas, acted as a spotter for rescue boats, dropped food to stranded individuals and acted as a shuttle service by flying people back and forth across the flooded river. Blosser is credited with rescuing twenty-eight people from the flood.^[1]

In 1988, he was awrded the Kansas Governor’s Aviation Honors Award and was inducted into the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 1990.^[2] At one time, he was the oldest living licensed pilot in the United States.^[1]

Blosser was instrumental in making Kansas a member of the National Bureau of Reclamation and in working with the late Senator Frank Carlson and the United States Bureau of Reclamation in getting flood control along the Republican River.^[1]

Local politics

Blosser was elected mayor of Concordia and served a term from 1931 to 1933.^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Wings Over Kansas
2. ^ Kansas Aviation Museum
3. ^ Emery, Janet Pease (1970a), It Takes People to Make a Town, p30 Salina, Kansas: Arrow Printing Company. Library of Congress number 75-135688