Career
Born in Bloomington, Minnesota, he was the first pilot hired by Northwest Airways in 1926. In 1928, Holman set a world"s record of 1,433 consecutive loops in an airplane in five hours over the Saint Paul Airport. In 1917 Holman raced motorcycles at the Minnesota State Fair, earning the nickname "Slim", and later, "Speed".
In 1918, Holman offered to work as a mechanic in exchange for flying lessons with Walter Bullock.
To earn money, he quickly added parachute jumps and wingwalking to his skills. In 1926 he became an airmail pilot on the The Communications Advertising and Marketing-9 route from Minneapolis to Chicago, along with Matty Laird.
The Communications Advertising and Marketing-9 was reorganized by William Bushnell Stout with several financiers to form Northwest Airlines, hiring Holman as its first pilot, later becoming its chief pilot. Holman"s first pilot"s license, issued in 1927, was signed by Orville Wright.
By 1929, Holman was a leading pilot for Northwest airlines, gaining more notoriety becoming the fourth person in the world to perform the outside loop, and first to do so in a commercial aircraft.
Holman became a major investor in the airline, buying $2,000 worth of stock. In 1930 Matty Laird was commissioned to build a racing plane based on the Laird Speedwing by Benjamin Franklin Goodrich"s Lee Schoenhair for the 1930 Thompson Trophy race. Schoenhair backed out of the project, believing the aircraft would not be tested in time.
Laird entered the Laird Solution with Holman as the pilot only a few minutes after Holman flew the aircraft on its maiden flight.
Holman died in an accident during the 1931 opening of an airport in Omaha, Nebraska in front of 20,000 spectators, at age 32. His funeral was one of the largest yet held in Saint Paul.
Holman Field, Saint Paul Downtown Airport is named in honor of Speed Holman, as was Holman street in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Holman is also inducted in the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame.