Founder Of AMR/Combs Dies At 90

Less than a week after he was honored as one of aviation's top 100 pioneers, the founder of AMR/Combs died at a Phoenix (AZ) hospice of apparent heart failure. He was 90 years old.

"He was a very dynamic individual -- a perfectionist, really, in everything he did," said close friend Jim Greenwood, a former aviation public relations executive in Wichita (KS). "He was a real aviation pioneer."

Born January 27th, 1913, Combs fell in love with aviation watching his father train as a WWI pilot. But his father, who had been shot down twice in Europe, warned him to stay away from aircraft. Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight, however, proved too much for the younger Combs. So he took up flying in 1927, building his own aircraft in 1929.

Combs graduated from Yale and put in two years with Pan American Airways before starting his own company, Mountain States Aviation. That later became Combs Aircraft. It trained more than 9,000 pilots who flew freighters, gliders and bombers during the Second World War.

From 1971 until 1982, Combs was president of Gates Learjet, overseeing the company's move from Wichita (KS) to Tucson (AZ). Gates Learjet later became a part of the Bombardier Aerospace family.

"Harry Combs had one of those extremely forceful and magnetic personalities," said longtime friend Al Higdon. "He could rally people around him like few people I've ever known. He'd give a speech that would inspire people to want to do better and achieve and reach goals."

During last week's Centennial of Flight celebrations at Kitty Hawk (NC), Combs donated a $1 million Wright Flyer replica, which will be displayed in the national park at Kill Devil Hill. He's survived by his wife, Ginney, sons Terry and Tony Combs (both of Denver, CO) and his daughter, Clara Moore, who lives in Montrose (CO).

Harry Combs, aviation pioneer, entrepreneur and revered leader, has gone west. Happy landings, Harry.

FMI: www.aerospace.bombardier.com