PILOT STORIES: Collinson, H. A.

Born in Bismarck, Illinois on December 6, 1893, Collison made his home at Champaign, Illinois. Before he joined the postal service, he had logged 600 hours of flying time, during which he had trained in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Collison left for Cheyenne on the eastbound portion of the February 1922 day and night transcontinental flight. He was doing fine until he reached Rock Springs, Wyoming. By mid afternoon there was heavy fog and he had to land at Laramie, 40 miles short of Cheyenne. He tried to takeoff five separate times, finally succeeding at 10:15pm that night. Visibility and the weather were still so bad that it took Collison two hours to cover the last forty miles of the trip.

While flying the mail before dawn over Wyoming one morning in December 1924, the oil pressure in his airplane dropped significantly. Collison was over rough country at night, so he used his parachute flares to help locate a landing spot. He was able to land safely, but had to walk five miles in -35° weather and by the time he reached shelter the corners of his eyes and his chin had frozen.