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Welke Aviation, Inc.

Also Welke Aviation Service · Welke Aviation Corporation · Welke air service

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

Locator map: Beaver Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Within Beaver IslandLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
TypeOrganization
Founded1975-01
Coordinates45.6937° N, 85.5665° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
WithinBeaver Island · Charlevoix
ErasModern era
On this page
Locator map: Beaver Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Within Beaver IslandLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
Organization
Founded
1975-01
Founded by
Paul Welke
Coordinates
45.6937° N, 85.5665° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
transportationeconomycommunity
Within
Beaver Island · Charlevoix

Summary

Welke Aviation, Inc. was a Beaver Island air-taxi and charter company that Paul Welke began organizing in January 1975 and that held an FAA Air Taxi/Commercial Operator certificate by that May, flying a twin-engine Piper Apache out of Welke Airport for passenger and freight service to the mainland. It was a family business from the start – Paul as president and second pilot, his father William “Bill” Welke as chief pilot, his brother Mark Welke as mechanic and pilot, his younger brother Carl Welke training toward a commercial rating, and his mother Betty Welke as secretary-treasurer – and it advertised continuously in the Beaver Beacon through at least November 1978. Over the 1982-83 New Year it merged with a second island carrier, McPhillips Flying Service, to form Island Airways, initially owned half by a Hodgson (named inconsistently as “Richard” and “Eric” in the article’s own source) and one quarter each by Paul and Ellen Welke and Bill and Betty Welke; in January 1989 the two Welke couples bought out the Hodgson share, returning the successor company to full family ownership. Paul Welke is a public figure in this record only through his business and civic roles; this article reports nothing further about him.

History

The venture began as a proposal, not a company. In January 1975 Paul Welke sought office space at the Charlevoix Municipal Airport on behalf of what the Beaver Beacon called a “preliminary corporation,” planning twin-engine freight and passenger service between Beaver Island and Charlevoix.1 A February 1975 engagement notice for Welke already calls him “president of Welke Aviation Corporation,” a name variant from both the January proposal’s “Welke Aviation Service” and the settled “Welke Aviation, Inc.” of the company’s later advertising.2 By May-June 1975 the Beacon reported the company operating under an FAA Department of Transportation Air Taxi/Commercial Operator certificate, flying an Apache carrying four passengers plus pilot for charter passenger and freight work, based at Welke Airport, with the family roles described above.3 Classified advertisements for “Welke Aviation, Inc.” ran in the Beacon in April, August, and November 1976, each describing air-taxi and charter service “to and from Beaver Island” and “to and from anywhere,” multi-engine aircraft, and a licensed A&P mechanic.4

The Civic Association’s October 1975 Fly-In used Welke Airport as its venue, and that same month the Beacon reported a $100 reward for information on the destruction of signs on Welke property during the night of October 25 – an incident with no reported outcome, directing inquiries to Bill Welke by name.56 A short-form classified advertisement – “Welke Aviation - Beaver Island, Charter Air Service … Air Freight, Call Anytime Day or Night” – ran repeatedly in the Beacon from January 1979 through at least November 1981, closing the advertising record between the fuller 1976 ads and the 1982-83 merger with only the specific years 1977 through 1978 attested by a single held advertisement each.7

Welke Aviation and McPhillips Flying Service, a second island operator, ran in parallel through the following years. In December 1982 the two companies jointly announced, in a notice signed by Paul R. Welke, “that they have entered into an agreement of merger,” to be known as Island Airways and expected to begin operating in early January 1983, combining “the best resources and the personnel of both concerns” while aiming to hold rates steady.8 A January 1983 Beacon item confirmed the merger had taken effect “as of the first of January,” with the combined carrier continuing year-round service into Charlevoix Airport and using both the Beaver Island Township Airport and Welke Airport.9

A detailed January 1989 Beacon feature, written by Ann Stanhope, resolves what the 1983 merger had left open: at formation, Island Airways was owned 50 percent by “Richard Hodgson,” 25 percent by Paul and Ellen Welke, and 25 percent by Bill and Betty Welke, with Mark and Carl Welke — recent graduates of Kirtland Aviation School in Grayling — joining as pilot and maintenance chief respectively, and Anne Welke, a Northwestern Michigan College aviation graduate, managing the Charlevoix office after an early stint flying. In January 1989, Bill and Betty Welke and Paul and Ellen Welke completed the purchase of the remaining half of Island Airways from the same individual, there named “Eric Hodgson, of Charlevoix” — the article does not reconcile its own two different first names for him — returning the carrier to full Welke family ownership. The feature also credits Bill’s brother, Don Welke, with having “encouraged Bill and Paul to start this new adventure” fifteen years earlier, in 1975.10 The full account of Island Airways’ later charter, tourism, and medical-charter work is covered in Aviation and air service and is not restated here.

Significance

Welke Aviation was the family aviation business that grew into Island Airways, still Beaver Island’s air carrier decades later, and it sits inside a wider pattern documented in Aviation and air service: island air service has been carried by a shifting set of small, often family-run operators rather than one continuous company, of which Welke Aviation is the direct ancestor of the current one. Its founding also intersects the island’s separate, publicly funded medical-evacuation program: Bill Welke co-piloted the township’s own emergency aircraft on documented 1974 flights, a distinct program covered fully elsewhere and not restated here.

Open questions

  • Is a surviving FAA or Michigan corporate filing available to give Welke Aviation, Inc.’s exact incorporation date and certificate number?
  • Classified advertising for “Welke Aviation” and “Welke Aviation, Inc.” continued to run at least as late as November 1978, and a shorter-form advertisement continued through at least November 1981, closing most of the gap between the 1976 advertisements and the 1982-83 merger, but no source read here documents the company’s operations in the intervening years in any detail beyond recurring advertisements.
  • What aircraft, beyond the original Apache, did the company operate before the merger?
  • Is “Richard Hodgson” or “Eric Hodgson” the correct name of the 50-percent partner at Island Airways’ 1983 founding? The January 1989 Beacon feature uses each once without explanation. A 2025 funeral-home obituary identifies Richard Marshall Hodgson as Eric’s father and as a co-owner of the Charlevoix– Beaver Island flight service, strengthening the Richard reading while leaving open whether the Beacon contains a typo or describes a change in ownership.

See also

Footnotes

  1. Beaver Beacon, January 1975, “Plans Beaver Island Twin Engine Air Service.” ↩

  2. Project article, person/paul-welke, citing Beaver Beacon, February 1975, “Engagement Announced.” ↩

  3. Beaver Beacon, May-June 1975, “New Air Service Links Beaver Island, Mainland.” ↩

  4. Beaver Beacon, April, August, and November 1976, classified advertising, “Welke Aviation, Inc.” ↩

  5. Beaver Beacon, August-September 1975, “Beaver Island Fly-In.” ↩

  6. Beaver Beacon, October 1975, “Reward Offered.” ↩

  7. Beaver Beacon, January 1979 through November 1981, recurring classified advertising, “Welke Aviation.” ↩

  8. Beaver Beacon, December 1982, “To All Our Customers,” signed Paul R. Welke. ↩

  9. Beaver Beacon, January 1983, community column. ↩

  10. Beaver Beacon, January 1989, “Island Airways is again a family business,” by Ann Stanhope. ↩

Sources

  1. Current airport/runway-area point used as the representative base for Welke Aviation; the historical advertisements establish air service from Beaver Island but do not identify a separate office or hangar footprint.
    osm · aeroway
  2. Reports Paul Welke’s preliminary corporation, proposed freight and passenger service between Beaver Island and Charlevoix, an approach to the Charlevoix Municipal Airport office, planned twin-engine aircraft, and his private island airport. The report documents a proposal, not incorporation, aircraft acquisition, or completed service. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-01_Beaver-Beacon
  3. The scan confirms the proposal and its preliminary status.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-01_Beaver-Beacon
  4. Reports the company in operation after receiving an FAA operating certificate as an Air Taxi/Commercial Operator, with its island base at Welke Airport. The report does not supply the certificate number, aircraft registration, incorporation filing, or schedule. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-05_Beaver-Beacon
  5. The held combined issue confirms the reported operational status.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-05_Beaver-Beacon
  6. Advertises Welke Aviation multi-engine service based on Beaver Island and flying to and from mainland points, with Paul or Betty Welke as contacts. It is an advertisement and does not provide a schedule, flight log, aircraft registry, or additional operating certificate detail. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-08_Beaver-Beacon
  7. The held combined issue confirms the direct flying-service advertisement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-08_Beaver-Beacon
  8. Advertises Welke Aviation air taxi service to and from Beaver Island, mainland points, and nearby destinations, with multi-engine aircraft and a licensed A&P mechanic. It is an advertisement, not a schedule, flight log, aircraft registry, or current certificate. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1976-04_Beaver-Beacon
  9. The held issue confirms the air-service advertisement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-04_Beaver-Beacon
  10. Advertises Welke Aviation air taxi and air charter service to and from Beaver Island and elsewhere, with multi-engine aircraft and a licensed A&P mechanic. It is an advertisement, not a schedule, flight log, aircraft registry, or current certificate. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1976-08_Beaver-Beacon
  11. The held issue confirms the August flying-service advertisement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-08_Beaver-Beacon
  12. Repeats the Welke Aviation air-service advertisement. It supports continued advertised operation but not a schedule, flight log, aircraft registry, or current certificate. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1976-11_Beaver-Beacon
  13. The held issue confirms the November air-service advertisement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-11_Beaver-Beacon
  14. Confirms the repeated "Welke Aviation, Inc." classified advertisement, identical in substance to the April and August 1976 advertisements: air taxi and charter service to and from Beaver Island, multi-engine aircraft, licensed A&P mechanic.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-11_Beaver-Beacon
  15. Project article, person/paul-welke, citing Beaver Beacon, February 1975, "Engagement Announced" and "Hospital Notes."
    Identifies Paul R. Welke, son of William and Betty Welke, as president of "Welke Aviation Corporation" -- a name variant from the January proposal's "Welke Aviation Service" and the May operating report's "Welke Aviation, Inc." Read via the project's person record rather than independently verified against the February 1975 issue by this article. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    kb · articles · people · paul-welke
  16. Company self-history states Welke Aviation was established in January 1975 "by Paul, Bill, and [Betty] Welke" with one Piper Apache; that it merged with McPhillips Flying Service on 1 January 1983 to form Island Airways; and that Paul Welke purchased the remaining partners' stock in 1989. This is a company self-history, not an independent record, used only for the outcome of the 1975 venture.
    kb · articles · people · paul-welke
  17. Project article, "Aviation and air service" (theme), citing Beaver Beacon, December 1982, "Island Airways," and January 1983, "B.I. Merger."
    Reports that McPhillips Flying Service and Welke Aviation merged as of 1 January 1983 into Island Airways, combining aircraft and personnel, continuing year-round service through Charlevoix Airport, and using both the township airport and Welke Airport. Read via the project's aviation survey rather than independently verified against the 1982-83 issues by this article. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    kb · articles · themes · aviation-and-air-service
  18. Project article, "Aviation and air service" (theme), citing Beaver Beacon, January 1989, "Island Airways is again a family business."
    Reports that Bill and Betty Welke and Paul and Ellen Welke completed the purchase of Eric Hodgson's remaining half of Island Airways in January 1989. Read via the project's aviation survey rather than independently verified against the 1989 issue by this article. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    kb · articles · themes · aviation-and-air-service
  19. Advertises Welke Aviation charter air service, closing part of the gap between the 1976 advertisements and the 1982-83 merger. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1977-01_Beaver-Beacon
  20. Lists Welke Aviation, Inc. among classified advertisers, the latest held advertisement before the 1982-83 merger notices. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1978-11_Beaver-Beacon
  21. Joint announcement, signed Paul R. Welke, that McPhillips Flying Service and Welke Aviation "have entered into an agreement of merger," to be known as Island Airways and expected to begin operation in early January 1983. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1982-12_Beaver-Beacon
  22. States "McPhillips Flying Service and Welke's Aviation have merged as of the first of January," with the combined Island Airways continuing year-round service into Charlevoix Airport and using both the Beaver Island Airport and Welke's Airport. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1983-01_Beaver-Beacon
  23. Detailed feature independently confirming the January 1989 buyout of the remaining half of Island Airways from a Hodgson (named "Eric Hodgson, of Charlevoix" in one place and "Richard Hodgson" in another, without reconciliation) by Bill and Betty Welke and Paul and Ellen Welke; gives the 1983 merger ownership split (Hodgson 50%, Paul and Ellen Welke 25%, Bill and Betty Welke 25%), family roles at the 1989 reorganization, and states Bill's brother Don Welke had encouraged Bill and Paul to start the venture in 1975. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1989-01_Beaver-Beacon
  24. Identifies Richard Marshall Hodgson as Eric Hodgson’s father and says Richard co-owned the flight service from Charlevoix to Beaver Island. This supports Richard’s connection to the Island Airways history but does not independently resolve the 1989 Beaver Beacon’s inconsistent first names.
  25. Advertises "Welke Aviation - Beaver Island, Charter Air Service ... Air Freight, Call Anytime Day or Night." The same short-form advertisement recurs at least through 1979-06, 1979-10, 1979-12, and continuously through 1980-1981 (1980-02, 1980-04, 1980-05, 1980-08, 1980-12, 1981-03, 1981-05, 1981-06, 1981-07, 1981-09, 1981-11), closing the advertising gap between the 1978 holdings and the December 1982 merger notice. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1979-01_Beaver-Beacon
  26. Announces the Civic Association's October 5, 1975 Fly-In, held at Welke Airport, with a whitefish dinner, town transportation, and an advertised Unicom frequency. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-08_Beaver-Beacon
  27. Offers a $100 reward for information on the destruction of signs on Welke property the night of October 25, directing inquiries to "Bill Welke, 448-2326." No outcome is reported. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-10_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026 · revised 5 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Welke Aviation, Inc.”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/organizations/welke-aviation-service-1975/, accessed [date], citing OpenStreetMap, Beaver Island Airport feature, downloaded 2026-08-06. (and 25 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-05. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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