Charlie Hammonds
A life well lived in aviation
Charlie Hammonds started washing airplanes at Houma-Terrebonne Airport (HUM) when he was 12, earned his private pilot certificate and seaplane rating when he was 17, and started a seaplane base, charter, and flight school in Houma when he was 21 in 1960. Hammonds Air Service is the oldest flight school in the South, and its founder is still teaching and actively flying. He ran Hammonds Commuter Airlines in the 1970s, flying a Brazilian Embraer Bandeirante and de Havilland Twin Otter until the oil business declined in Louisiana in the 1980s. Hammonds created a small museum in the back of one of his hangars at Houma, and it is a treasure trove of aviation memorabilia—from Lindbergh collections and World War II artifacts to letters and photos of friends in the U.S. Thunderbirds and U.S. Navy Blue Angels and Top Gun movie (the original) items—it’s a testament to a life well lived in aviation. His son Ricky was on the Navy Fighter Weapons School staff and flew in the 1986 film. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he flies for Delta Airlines. Charlie Hammonds’ grandson, Lindy, runs the company maintenance facility. “I’m very proud of them, and proud to be a ‘true’ aviator.”
Related Articles
