Major General Wayne C. Gatlin
1924 -

Duluth-born Wayne Gatlin enlisted in the aviation cadet program in 1942. Later he flew 55 combat missions for the 360th Fighter Group in England and downed an ME-262 jet fighter. In 1948 he joined the Texas Air National Guard but eventually transferred to Duluth, where he became operations officer for the 179th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Gatlin flew jet fighters while stationed at Duluth during the Korean War. He was the high individual scorer at the 1954, 1955 and 1956 National Air Guard gunnery meets.

Gatlin served as commander of the Air Technician Detachment at Duluth, wing commander, group commander and finally chief of staff for the Minnesota Air National Guard. He logged over 6,700 military flying hours during his career.

Gatlin studied photography over the years and his marvelous portraits of Guard aircraft have appeared in many publications and journals.

Inducted 2000

Francis J. Geng
1893 - 1981

Hastings-born Francis Geng learned auto mechanics as a youth. He enlisted in the Navy during World War I as a machinists mate and later transferred to the Naval Air Service, training at the Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis. He served active duty on anti-sub patrol in New York. In 1927 he became the airport manager at the new St. Paul Municipal Airport. He supervised all airfield activities including fueling, rentals, service and maintenance. The field became a popular stop for politicians and personalities and provided an overnight for the famous Ford Air Tours.

Geng lobbied the St. Paul City Council to expand the municipal airport to accommodate airline service. In 1930, Northwest Airlines built their maintenance facility there. He helped secure a base for the Minnesota Air Guard and a home for Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing aviation. In the 1930s he oversaw the WPA programs that paved new runways, installed lighting and built a new terminal.

Geng retired after 34 years as manager.

Inducted 1994

Raymond G. Glumack
1918 – 1998

Ray Glumack was born in Marble, Minnesota on the Iron Range. He learned to fly at the old Virginia airport. In 1938, while in college, Ray and some friends barnstormed the Iron Range in a Curtiss Robin. After college, he entered the Naval Cadet program at Minneapolis, winning his wings in 1940. Assigned to the battleship USS Maryland, he narrowly avoided being injured on board during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He served out the war in the Pacific on the Maryland, flying as an SOC seaplane pilot, catapulted from shipboard and recovered from the ocean. One of his planes was shot down and he spent time in a raft before being picked up by a destroyer. Glumack returned to Minneapolis and the Naval Reserve, where he finished his career, retiring as a Captain. Glumack became a partner in Northeast Airways, operating from the Virginia airport, serving as the operating officer of the corporation and spray pilot. In 1957, Glumack moved to the Twin Cities to work for the Peavey Corporation as a salesman for Aero Commander aircraft and helped negotiate the sale of Peavey to the Northern Pacific Railroad. He was elected Executive Director of MAC 1975, overseeing the metro airports. He helped save Traveler’s Aid by instigating a fund-raising tradition, helped conceive the Metropolitan Public Airport Foundation and the term “America’s North Coast Gateway” as the catch-phrase for MSP, and aided Northwest Airlines in obtaining CAB approval for direct international flights. When he stepped down as director, he was appointed Chairman of MAC by the Governor, finally retiring in 1988. His most proud accomplishment was to fend off the Minneapolis Metropolitan Council in its effort to takeover the MAC and its financial base.

Inducted 2009

Albert James Grazzini
1921-2010

Born in Minneapolis, MN, Grazzini served with the U.S. Army, stationed in Italy as a front-line parts specialist. After the war he graduated from St. Thomas College with a degree in accounting and joined the Air National Guard in Minneapolis.

He found a passion in flying, received his ratings and managed a flying club. In 1961 he founded Thunderbird Aviation at Flying Cloud Airport and took on a Piper dealership. Soon the business grew until it operated the largest Piper fleet in that company’s network. Today it is one of Minnesota’s premier fixed-base operations.

Working in the general aviation field, Grazzini helped form and get legislation passed that gave aircraft sales departments across the state a break in making sales tax payments on new aircraft until they were sold or had been in use for one year. Thunderbird expanded to include facilities at Owatonna and Crystal, MN, and at Phoenix, AZ. Grazzini also opened the Academy of Aviation, a fully-credited aviation training school offering two-year degrees in aviation skills.

Inducted 2003