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Hall of Fame
A
Akerman, John
Aldrich, Robert
Anderson, Olof
Anderson, Roger
Anderson, Rowland
Andreotti, Eugene
Atkins, Harold
B
Bailey, Austin
Barber, William
Beerbower, Don
Billberg, Rudolf
Bolduc, Wilmer
Booen, Sherman
Bour, Anthony
Brandt, Otho
Brown, Ray
Brittin, Lewis
Bullock, Walter
Butler, Ken
C
Carr, Hal
Ceronsky, Robert
Chamberlain, Cyrus
Chandler, Harold
Christenson, Anders
Conrad, Max
Coombs, Logan
Croft, Edwin
D
Dahlberg, Kenneth
De Ponti Angelo
Devorak, Joseph
Dolny, John
Doyle, Charles
Duggan, Roy
E
Einarson, Francis
Erickson, Curtis
F
Fawkes, Bohn
Fleming, Richard
Freeburg, Mal
G
Gatlin, Wayne
Geng, Francis
Grazzini, Albert
H
Halloran, Patrick
Hamiel, Jeffery
Hammond, Laurence
Hanson, Bruce
Hanson, James P.
Hanson, J. Donald
Hed, John
Heine, Alexander
Hinck, Clarence
Hinck, Elmer
Hinke, Arthur
Hoffman, Arthur
Holey, George
Holman, Charles
Hubbard, Stanley
Hunter, Croil
Hurd, Mark
I
Imm, Gustav
Isaacson, Clayton
J
Johnson, Darrell
Johnson, Wayne
K
Kaplan, Buzz
Ketcham, Stanley
Kidder, William
Kipp, John
Klimek, Peter
Klingensmith, Florence
Koerner, Louis
Koskovich, Arthur
L
Lamont, James
Larrabee, Weldon
Larrabee, Wilbur
Larson, Doyle
Lindbergh, Charles
Longlet, Melvin
Luck, Goodwin
Lund, Frederick
Lysdale, Jack
M
Magnus, James
Marshall, Wymanfiske
Maxwell, Kenneth
McCabe, Lawrence
Miller, Raymond
Mitchell, Norman
N
Nelson, Orvis
Neuman, Andrew
Newstrom, Gordon
Norstad, Lauris
Northrup, Marvin
Noteboom, Arthur
Nyrop, Donald
O
Omlie, Phoebe
Omlie, Vernon
Otis, Arthur
Otis, Eleanor
P
Perlt, Julius
Peterson, Richard
Peterson, Sven
Pietenpol, Bernard
Pyle, Clayton
R
Rawlings, Edwin
Rice, John
Rice, Mary
Ritchie, Bertram
Rufus, Rand
S
Schaeffer, Dorothy
Schauss, Frederick
Smith, Chadwick
Smith, Charles
Smith, Robert
Soderlind, Paul
Sorensen, Niels
Sowa, Daniel
Stein, Camille
Steinbrunn, Robert
Stenseth, Martinus
Strohfus, Elizabeth
Sweet, Bernard
T
Timm, Otto
Trowbridge, Eugene
U
Underland, Gary
V
Van Dusen, G. B.
Vasey, John
W
Westover, Joseph
Whyte, Edna
Wien, Noel
Wien, Sigurd
Wiplinger, Ben
Wofford, Ken
Wold, Ernest
Home Page
Hall of Fame
Major General Wayne C. Gaitlin
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

Wayne C. Gatlin Plaque
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

Francis J. Geng Plaque
Albert James Grazzini
1921 -

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