Featured Supporters Archives - Recreational Aviation Foundation

Chuck and Judy Aldrian

“Buy a Maule,” Bob Gillette said to his friend Chuck Aldrian when Chuck retired from his Milwaukee-based architectural firm. Chuck had been regularly flying his Cessna 310R to oversee his projects all over the country, from groundbreaking, through the ribbon cuttings. Chuck’s wife Judy points out that the twin was a wonderful way to take…

Matt Rhoades

Matt Rhoades caught the flying passion from his employer at Setpoint Systems Inc. who flew a Cirrus out of Centennial, Colorado. One day he picked up Matt and a colleague from their Scottsdale meeting and flew them to Las Vegas for dinner. “That planted the seed,” Matt says. “It’s one thing to land at McCarran…

Jeff and Patti Plantz

Some hundred years after the event at Kitty Hawk, two Wisconsin brothers calling themselves the “Wrong Brothers” built their own ultralight, and like Wilbur and Orville, attempted to teach themselves to fly. At least the more recent sibling duo had the advantage of a book on flying techniques. “We’re still here,” says Jeff Plantz, one…

Pat Hartness

Pat Hartness laid aside his logbook at age 75 after a remarkable life in aviation.“It was the perfect opportunity to start driving a tractor and still stay actively involved in aviation,” he says. It opened a new chapter of his passion to inspire others. After 8,000 VFR hours in everything from PiperCubs, an AirCam, Stearman,…

Tom Dolaskie

When Tom Dolaskie returned from his service in the US Air Force to his hometown of Munising, Michigan in 2008 he saw the effects of the economic downturn. As he walked among the many vacant buildings and abandoned houses, he didn’t see a doomed town, he saw opportunity. Today, visitors to this scenic town may be drawn by its natural…

Jim Hanson

For a fellow who’s flown every sort of aircraft, and has landed all over the world with the late Hall of Famer, Buzz Kaplan, Mr. Jim Hanson of Minnesota still finds complete joy in flying low and slow, and sharing the joy with others. He loves flying his Lake Amphibian among what he claims are…

Glenn and Carol Punske-Brasch

Glenn and Carol Punske-Brasch give back through public service. Like many pilots, Glenn always wanted to fly. He grew up in Chicago, attended college at Southern Illinois University where he began to fulfill his dream of flight fairly early in life by getting his private pilot license. Another desire was to find clearer skies, so…

Jerry Wilke

When Jerry Wilke believes in an organization, he invests his heart, his soul, and leans his shoulder in. He observes, finds the best fit for his experience, and has come away from his 35-year career with Harley Davidson with a mastery of what motivates people to seek and find fulfillment in a sport, a product,…

Tom Jensen

A few moments with Tom Jensen of Evergreen Sky Ranch, 51WA near Auburn, Washington, and you learn he’s had a vast amount of aviation, aeronautical, volunteer, and life experience. “I caught the aviation ‘disease’ very early. I was hand cranking a Navy N3N open cockpit biplane. You put the crank through the side of the…

Bob & Judy Gillette

When you meet Bob and Judy Gillette, it’s easy to imagine them sailing their traditional two masted teak ketch off the California coast, or tooling around the Midwest countryside in one of their vintage wire-wheeled Jaguars. Visitors have enjoyed Gillette’s warm hospitality after landing on their 2,400-ft turf airfield at Lakewood Lodge in northern Wisconsin,…