The South Dakota Pilots Association promotes the active support of the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame through the SDPA newsletter.

The SD Aviation Hall of Fame is a non-profit South Dakota corporation with federal tax-exempt status, established to honor the pioneers and contributors to South Dakota aviation. Their history, accomplishment, impact on South Dakota, and memorabilia will be on display and available for inspection in the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame building to be located on the Black Hills Airport / Clyde Ice Field, Spearfish, SD.

If you know of someone from South Dakota who you believe would be a good nominee for the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame, please complete and submit the appropriate Nominee Application or contact Ted Miller at 605-642-0277.

• The Inductees
• The Home
• Building Fund
• Contacts
• Raffle
• Donated Aircraft
• Inductees in the Aviation Hall of Fame and the Combat Air Crew Memorial
• List of all Aviation Hall of Fame Inductees
• List of all Combat Air Crew Memorial Members
• Application Forms
  • South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame nominee form
  • Combat Air Crew Memorial nominee form
• Articles of Incorporation of South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame [PDF]
• Bylaws of the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame [PDF] 

The Inductees

Famous inductees such as Clyde Ice, Joe Foss, Duane Corning, Nellie Willhite, Charles Gemar, and more have been honored by the SD Aviation Hall of Fame.

Over 200 combat aircrew members have been inducted into the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame, and were residents of South Dakota who served their country with honor while flying combat tours in the many wars of the United States, from World War I to the present.

The Home

Presently, the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame, Inc. has an exhibit of Aviation Hall of Fame members and combat aircrew members at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum, Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, SD.

A new home (shown right, drawn by Claudette Miller) is planned in the future at the Black Hills / Clyde Ice Field, Spearfish, SD, to house the exhibit, aircraft, and memorabilia of the Hall of Fame members for future generations.

Building Fund

A building fund has been established and donations are solicited for this unique South Dakota institution. Your contributions are greatly appreciated. A contribution wall will be constructed and consist of plaques showing the donor’s name and section.

Building Fund Contributions

Contacts

South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame
Black Hills / Clyde Ice Field
424 Aviation Place
Spearfish, SD 57783
Phone 605-642-0277 (days)

President
Ted Miller
Black Hills Aero
424 Aviation Place
Spearfish, SD 57783
605-642-0277 (days)
Email: bha@mato.com

Vice President
Rich Krogstad
320 N. Tinton Road
Spearfish, SD 57783
Home 605-642-5385
Email: c21rich@mato.com

Board of Directors
Ted Miller, Spearfish
 Rich Krogstad, Spearfish
Pearl Gulbranson, Spearfish
Tami Schroeder, Brookings
Bobbie Potts, Gettysburg

Selection Committee
Ted Miller, Spearfish
Rich Krogstad, Spearfish
Bruce Bowen, Sturgis
Dwayne LaFave, DeSmet
Grove Rathbun, Rapid City
Denny Martens, Vermillion
Ken McGirr, Sturgis
Bobbie Potts, Gettysburg

Raffle
The SD Aviation Hall of Fame is searching for a “Light Sport Plane” to use in a fund-raising raffle.  If you know of a light sport plane like a J-3 Cub or PA-11, PLEASE contact Rich Krogstad at 605-642-5385 or email c21rich@mato.com, or Ted Miller at 605-642-0277 or email bha@mato.com -- at your earliest opportunity!! 

Once a plane has been secured for a Raffle, flyers about the raffle will be mailed through out the state and advertised in the newsletter of the South Dakota Pilots Association. 

Tentatively, a Raffle drawing will be held in mid-September.  Raffle tickets will probably cost $50 each.  MORE DETAILS LATER.  Make checks payable to the SD Aviation Hall of Fame, and mail to SD Aviation Hall of Fame, 424 Aviation Way, Spearfish, SD 57783.  Your raffle ticket will be mailed to you.  Need not be present to win.  Proceeds to the SD Aviation Hall of Fame, non-profit 503-C.

Donated Aircraft
If you have artifacts or an aircraft to donate to the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame, please contact Ted Miller.

Make & Model: Stits Playmate built by Henry Conrad Balcer
Year: 1968
N number: N6515
Donator: Charlotte Andersen, MD, Badger, SD
Location: Black Hills Aero, Black Hills Airport / Clyde Ice Field, Spearfish, SD

When my Dad started welding chromoly steel in our one-car garage, my 6 year-old eyes were wide with excitement -- this pile of metal was going to be our airplane?  I spent every evening with him "working" on the airplane.  I really could help with some things, like stitching the Dacron covered wings, but I'm sure he put up with my assistance, hoping that I would love it as much as he did.

It worked.

My Dad finished the Stits Playmate in just under 2 1/2 years, the fastest time to date for one to be finished.  N6515 was the first to fly after Ray Stits flew the prototype.  The Playmate made its first trip to Rockford, Illinois in 1969, coming home with a trophy. 

My Dad and I flew many more years to Oshkosh.  We had the airplane in parades, in malls, almost anywhere anyone invited us.  The folding-wing design made it easy for it to be transported as well as allowing it access to places where many other aircraft cannot go.

It had the engine updated early on to the Lycoming 150 hp, which gave it more power, and makes it quite a peppy little craft to fly.

Dad and I rebuilt the Playmate in 1990, giving it all new fabric, new interior, and new avionics.  This time I could participate much more fully, and my Dad and I had a wonderful time doing it together.   What a joy it was to receive the first Paul Poberezny Founders Award for classic custom homebuilt in Oshkosh in 1991. 

While flying with my Dad all those years, I got my license, graduated from medical school, completed my psychiatry residency, got a Skyhawk, and missed Oshkosh only twice in all those years.  I then married the most wonderful man, Art, a pilot, who lives in Badger...on SD19. 

My Dad died in 2002, and I want a place for the Playmate to live forever. 

Charlotte Andersen, M.D.
Badger, SD

Make & Model: American Triwing built by Vern Kraemer
Year: 1952
N number: N6001V
Donator: Vern Kraemer, Nemo, SD
Location: being restored in Nemo, SD

Comment 9/25/05: The American Triwing was built by Vern Kraemer and was the first licensed homebuilt in South Dakota.  It was donated to the EAA Museum in 1959 in Hales Corners, WI, the second plane donated (Steve Wittman's Bonzo was the first).  When the EAA Museum moved to Oshkosh, WI, in the late 1980s, the Triwing was inexplicably destroyed by EAA (burned up the wings).  After some persistence on Vern's part, they returned the fuselage cut in 3-ft pieces in the box.  They kept the engine and instruments without permission. Vern has since welded the fuselage back together.  He has reconstructed the wings from his blueprints and is currently welding up the struts for the wings.  Once everything is in the proper position, he will begin covering the plane with fabric.  He is restoring it for display purposes only, not to be airworthy.
Comment October 2008:  Vern has welded the fuselage back together.  He has reconstructed the wings from his blueprints, refabricated the struts for the wings, and covered and painted the aircraft.   An engine that matches the original has been obtained and hung.  All that remains to be done is to hang the wings and add the painted logo on the fuselage.  Until the final display location has been finalized the plane is currently being stored in pieces in Vern's hangar.

Make & Model:  “Jeep” was designed & built by Ralph Burton
Year: 1941
N number:  N41664
Donator:  Burton family
Location:  stored in Rob Burton’s hangar at Custer County Airport

Information from Rob Burton (Hill City, SD) September 2008:  The “Jeep” was designed and built by Ralph Burton in 1941 at the old Alliance Airport, Alliance, NE.  Ralph was killed in the crash of a Beech Staggerwing near Philips, SD, on March 27, 1944, while carrying airmail between Cheyenne, Pierre, and Rapid City.  The plane was lashed to the top of a car and moved by Ivan Ellis from Alliance to Spearfish, SD.  The single seat plane had a Continental A-40-4 engine (salvaged from a wrecked Taylorcraft), 18-foot wingspan, and 12-foot overall length.  The parasol wing was adapted from a Taylorcraft airfoil and had modified Friese ailerons.  Newspaper accounts from 1941 report, “The plane takeoffs and lands at 55 miles per hour [and has reached speeds as high as 120 miles per hour].  Its cockpit is so small that the instrument panel is only a few inches from the pilot’s face, and the seat is recessed to permit the pilot to wear a parachute.”  The plane was called the “Jeep” after a popular air racer built by Art Chester.  Rob Burton (nephew of Ralph Burton) stored the dismantled plane in a garage for many years.  The plane was rebuilt for static display by Ivan Ellis in 1998-1999, and displayed at Black Hills Aero on Spearfish Airport in August 2002 at the time of the induction of Ralph Burton into the SD Aviation Hall of Fame.  

Inductees in the Aviation Hall of Fame and the Combat Air Crew Memorial

No one was inducted into the SD Aviation Hall of Fame during ceremonies held at Black Hills Airport / Clyde Ice Field on August 27, 2011. 

Eight people were inducted into the Combat Air Crew Memorial section of the SD Aviation Hall of Fame during a ceremony at Black Hills Airport / Clyde Ice Field, Spearfish, on August 27, 2011.

     Selmer Skotvold, Cap.:  Selmer entered the U.S. Marine Corps on August 24,1943.  He was stationed at Midway Island and flew the SBD-5 Dauntless and SB2C-3 Helldiver aircraft from November 1944 until late August of 1945.  During his 10 months at Midway Island, he flew 190 flights accumulating 340 flight hours.   

     James W. Savage, MSgt.:  James joined the U.S. Army Air Force on his 18th birthday, April 23, 1946.  He was assigned to the 4th Fighter Wing, which was in the process of exchanging P-47 Thunderbolt fighters for P-80 Shooting Star jets.  He was then transferred to the 97th Bomb Wing at Biggs AFB, El Paso, TX.  As a gunner in B-52s, he logged seven missions in the Vietnam Theater and retired from Ellsworth AFB, SD. 

     Raymond Chard, Lt.:  Raymond enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in December1942 and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in 1943 and prepared for B-24 school.  Stationed in Orleans, France, he piloted both P-47 Thunderbolts and the risky combat gliders also knows as “Flying Coffins.”  In one mission, Chard flew a Waco CG-4A glider in and delivered the 17th Air Borne troop and their 50 caliber heavy machine guns into battle.  Chard was awarded the Air Medal, the European, African, and Middle-East Campaign Medals, and the WWll Victory Medal. 

     Kenneth Temple, Col.:  Kenneth was the 13th of 14 children and in 1941 he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps.  During WWII, Ken first served in North Africa and then Italy.  He flew B-17s, B-24s, B-25s, and B-26s.  Kenneth was assigned as the Commander of the 65th Bomb Squadron in the 96th Bomb Wing in Tucson, AZ.  The 65th went from last to first under his leadership. 

     Gary G. Nelson, Col.:  Gary was born April 6,1940, in Ethan, SD.  He graduated from South Dakota State College in 1962 and received his commission in the U.S. Air Force through ROTC at Brookings, SD.  Col. Nelson’s service included flying F-4 Phantom II and F-16 Fighting Falon combat aircraft from 1963 through 1987.  He accumulated 4,500 hours in F-4s and 700 hours in F-16s. 

     Kenneth C. Olson, LCDR:  Kenneth was a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, and flew 141 missions in Sikorsky SH-3A Sea Kings in the South China Sea of which 39 missions were into or out of enemy fire between 1964 and 1966.  He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with three Bronze, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device, and the National Defense Service Medal. 

    James L. Riggs, Lt. Col.:  James retired as a Lt. Col. from the U.S. Marine Corps.  He piloted Sikorsky H-34 Choctaws from June 1967 to July 1968 in the Vietnam Theater.  He flew 385 missions and retired in 1968.  James received numerous medals and commendations including the Distinguished Flying Cross, National Defense Service Medal, and Air Medals. 

     Louis O. Lomheim, LCDR:  Louis was born In Onida, SD, in 1931.  As Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, Louis flew 91 missions between 1966 and 1961 in the Vietnam Theater.  He was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation, four Air Medals, and three Gold Stars in lieu of Air Medals.

List of all South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame Inductees

List of all Combat Air Crew Memorial Members