Jim Galvin - Our Beloved Founder

Less than twelve months after Orville and Wilbur Wright made their historic flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, one of the Northwest's aviation pioneers was born to James Sr. and Nellie Galvin in Los Angeles, CA. That Galvin Flying Service became a hallmark name of general aviation in the Puget Sound region and world wide is a tribute to Jim's skill, daring, vision, dedication, and commitment to honest customer service.

Jim might very well have been remembered as a pioneer in motorcycles rather than airplanes. You see, he and two friends were the first people to ride a motorcycle across the United States! That occurred in the early 1920's and was followed closely by the newspapers of the day with headlines wondering if he would make it.

Jim Galvin accepted any type of flying job, the dangerous with the routine. It is a tribute to his skill as a pilot and knowledge of aircraft that in all his years of flying that he never cracked-up an airplane. He said that he had not experienced a serious scare in more than 12,000 hours of flying. "I must have had an angel on my shoulder."[1]

During his 59 years leading Galvin Flying Service, Jim's business hosted and serviced the planes of US Presidents, leaders of several other countries, national and international business and industrial leaders, celebrities, and countless general aviation pilots. However, during that entire time he never forgot, nor would he allow anyone else to forget, the importance of flight schools and flight training as the roots of aviation … for without a steady stream of trained pilots all other components of commercial, corporate, and general aviation would cease to prosper. His commitment to pilot training shows in the over 17,000 pilots that Galvin Flying Service was responsible for training between 1930 and continuing today.

Jim Galvin retired from active participation in the management of Galvin Flying Service in 1989 at the age of 85 … following 59 years of leading Galvin Flying Service. Amazingly, he had participated in the growth of the aviation industry in the Northwest from the days of the Barnstormers flying Swallows, Jennies and Stearmans to the days of corporate Boeing 757s.

 

[1] "James B Galvin, 87, barnstormer, pioneer in Northwest aviation", by Eric Pryne, The Seattle Times, September 3, 1991.