Frank Kelsey papers, 1911-2002

William Frank Kelsey was born March 31, 1912 in Salt Lake City. His involvement in aviation was life-long; in 1928, he constructed a glider based on an M.I.T. glider he had seen in an article.

In 1949 Kelsey and Mark Kemp opened a business based at the Salt Lake City Airport called Kemp and Kelsey Air Service. Hague Ellis purchased Kemp’s interest in the business in 1962 and it became known as Kelsey-Ellis Air Service. Functions of this business included air-taxi services, charter flights, plane rental, aircraft repair, and helicopter patrols.

Kelsey also tried to expand the business into fog seeding, for which he developed methods and equipment throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Fog seeding, the practice of dropping dry ice pellets from an aircraft into a fog in order to dissipate it, was a desirable service in the Salt Lake Valley because fog was such a safety concern for airports. In 1968 Kelsey sold his interest in the company to Ellis and left the business. Ellis changed the business’ name to Key Aviation.

Frank Kelsey also tried to start a business building, selling, and exporting Stressed Skin Trailers, which he marketed for transporting gliders. In 1975 he bought the rights to build and sell a design by Herman Stiglemeier, however the SST business failed and Kelsey sold it to Keven Murphy and Anthony Estrin in 1986.

In addition to his business ventures, Kelsey participated in a variety of professional activities. He was a prominent member of many aviation associations such as the Soaring Society of America, the Experimental Aircraft Association, the National Soaring Museum, and many more, in 1982 he was inducted into the Soaring Hall of Fame. He acted as a consultant for many businesses and organizations and in the mid-1980s he served on a committee to start a degree program in Aviation Maintenance at the Utah Technical College. Frank Kelsey died August 11, 1991.