Pete Smith

Pete cut his teeth on light metal fabrication in the business his father started in northern Virginia 50 years ago. They moved it to the central Montana town of Lewistown 32 years ago, and are now a substantial employer, with over 40 employees in the town of 6,000 folks. Called “HCR” (for Horizontal Curvilinear Re-circulator), their innovations have resulted in sales of fog, frost and ice free Air Doors for customers all over the world. “If you’ve been to the Dairy or Produce section of a Costco or a Sam’s Club you’ve probably seen our product,” Pete says. On one business trip to China, he took his daughter Rosie who was studying Business in college at the time. “We were treated to a 14-course meal, including soup with the the rooster’s head floating in it, complete with [comb and wattle].” 


Pete began flying in 1975, just out of high school, in Frederick, Maryland (home of AOPA), then got his A&P through an Associate of Science program at Frederick Community College. While working, he earned his SEL and MEL certificates, and earned his Inspection Authorization (IA) certificate. He then attended the University of Maryland for his degree in Aerospace Engineering. For three years, he worked as a civilian engineer at Pax River, home of the Naval Air Test Center, working in rotary wing flight testing for U.S. Marines. 


“Since then, I’ve always, flown, owned, and worked on airplanes,” he says, “enjoying it now as a hobby.” While in AP school, he rebuilt a 1946 7AC Champ, and still has it. Of his three children, his daughter Rebecca was the one who was most thrilled to learn to fly. “Rebecca learned to fly the Champ as soon as she could reach the rudder pedals,” Pete explains. “I’d sit in back and let her fly.” When she soloed, Pete says he was standing on the turf strip near a badger hole. “I was more worried about the badger coming up and meeting harm, than I was about Rebecca’s ability to land safely.” She moved on to their C180, and is now commercially licensed to fly UAVs for her employer, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).


Pete has taken on another aviation challenge, having bought into a North American T-28 “Trojan” with a partner. “We’d like to offer rides to Vietnam War veterans, since the T-28 played a role in Laos during the War,” Pete explains. U.S. pilots taught Laotians to fly them for attacks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. “We hope to add a Bird Dog (tandem Cessna 170 observation aircraft) for rides as well, as a tribute to their service.” He is anticipating traveling to Texas to get his type-rating in the T-28. Some consider the T-28 the most complex trainer the military ever had. ”There are three different ways just to open the canopy,” Pete says. It could handle up to one ton of weaponry under each wing. With its 1,425 hp nine-cylinder radial, he’ll need to be ready with a lot of right rudder. 


Pete’s been involved with the RAF from the beginning. His family has always enjoyed flying into the backcountry to camp, so it was a natural fit for him to get involved. Pete serves the RAF as Liaison to the BLM, overseers of many public access airstrips in the West. As past president of Montana Pilots Association, he has organized work parties and flyouts throughout Montana’s backcountry. “I have a good location in the center of the state,” he says.


He has generously donated time and material designing and fabricating handy logo key fobs, pancake turners and bottle openers, to laser cut RAF fire rings and sturdy “bear boxes,” refrigerator-freezer-sized containers for food storage, strong enough to keep the grizzlies out. His son Matthew inherited an eye for design and is working in high-end architecture. Matthew designed the commemorative P-38 floor inlays honoring Ben Ryan that impress visitors inside the Ryan Barn.


Pete says he devotes his time because he supports the RAF commitment to keeping backcountry airstrips “open and alive, and the interesting people you meet by being involved in the RAF.”


Submitted on March 15, 2023.

Recent Posts

IF WE COULD . . .

By Kodi Myhre • December 11, 2025
At about this time, every year, we have this conversation at the RAF about what our year end letter (code for asking for your financial support) should say to you, and about the RAF and the accomplishments of the past year.

RAF ADDS MICHIGAN LIAISON SCOTT ANTTILA

By Taylin Trafton • December 11, 2025
A Christmas gift of flight lessons from his parents started Scott Anttila’s aviation journey in 1985. “I learned at Johnson Field, a small grass strip tucked into the woods in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and that early exposure to simple backcountry flying stuck with me,” Scott says. Growing up in the U.P., he spent a lot of time outdoors and found that flying was another way to get to the places he liked to explore—especially the ones most people never saw. As he earned more ratings and eventually moved to the Detroit area for work, Scott realized he needed a way to stay connected to northern Michigan. He bought an airplane and used it to get back to the smaller airstrips and lake country he enjoyed. Along the way, he also flew gliders out of Frankfort, soaring along the Sleeping Bear Dunes and towing sailplanes over the Great Lakes. “Those flights gave me a different appreciation for the landscape and made me even more interested in the small, out-of-the-way airports scattered around the state,” he says. Visiting those kinds of places, Scott first came across the Recreational Aviation Foundation. He started using RAF-supported airstrips both inside and outside Michigan. “I noticed how well-kept they were and how much access they opened up,” he says, adding, ”Over the years, I’ve watched a number of grass strips close, which made the RAF’s mission feel especially important to me. Maintaining these airstrips keeps aviation connected to the outdoors and makes it possible for more people to reach the quiet, remote areas that inspired me to fly in the first place.” Scott joins the other two RAF Michigan Liaisons, General Grant and Tanmoy Ganguly. He can be reached at santtila@theraf.org . Submitted December 11, 2025.

VOLUNTEERS ENJOY MAGICAL VIEWS WHILE PREPARING WALKER RIDGE

By Taylin Trafton • December 11, 2025
“The word that comes to mind when I think of our second Walker Ridge work party is magical,” RAF California Liaison Doug Lumgair said, "even though it started off again with a truck stuck in the mud.” Volunteers began arriving Friday afternoon in a tailwheel Rans, a Super Cub, and Lumgair in his Cessna 170. A pickup with a big dump trailer brought the Polaris Ranger, and more pickups arrived. The runway surface posed major problems with boulders protruding from the surface. Everyone was eager to get started with pry bars and remove them. Once they fired up the generators to power the hammer drills, they discovered that this was the best method for attacking the rocks below the surface and breaking them up into pieces that they loaded into the trailer for removal. “At times, it felt like we had taken on an impossible task. But with steady work and persistence, by afternoon, we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Lumgair said.  In the Friday evening fire circle, they made new friends while sitting around a propane fire pit that had been cleverly transformed into a radiant heater by placing a washing-machine drum over it. Walker Ridge lies in a dark-sky area. Before the full supermoon rose, Lumgair said they could see the Milky Way with the naked eye. The campsite at the south end of Walker Ridge has a gorgeous view of the valley, and the view became “even more breathtaking as Central Valley tule fog filled the valley and the supermoon lit the fog, creating a shimmering white lake.” Lumgair said. Saturday morning, two crews quickly organized with hammer drills, and others began cutting brush along the runway edges. Volunteers had already removed what Lumgair called an incredible amount of brush during their first work party, but Saturday, they hauled out twelve more trailer loads. Late on Saturday, they had enough time to work on the rock outcroppings in the south turnaround area as well. "It was amazing that we were able to cut and haul so much brush and break down rocks and fill the resulting holes—all in one steady, hard-working day. Thank you very much to everyone for supporting the RAF in so many ways,” he said. Some stayed Saturday night to enjoy another beautiful evening. Work remains, and Lumgair is planning more work parties in the coming year to complete further improvements, some of which will require additional approval from the BLM. “Please let me know if you get up there this winter. I’d love to hear your thoughts and see any photos of your experience, Lumgair added. Doug Lumgair can be reached at dlumgair@theraf.org . Submitted December 11, 2025.

RAF FEATURED SUPPORTER: CHRIS NUGENT

By Taylin Trafton • December 9, 2025
Chris at TacAero in Fredericksburg, Texas to fly what he calls, "the mighty XCub. It's an awesome airplane,” he added.

IT WON'T HAPPEN AT ALL

By Taylin Trafton • December 9, 2025
That is the end of a quote that goes a bit like this: “It may not be easy, but if you don’t start, it won’t happen at all.” When I read that, I thought back 23 holiday seasons ago, about when the RAF got underway. We likely were a bit naïve about the road, or lack thereof, that was out front of the RAF, but we were wise enough to grasp that if the RAF were to become a successful contributor to our country’s recreational and backcountry aviation, the path would not be easy. What we did know was – and some of you have heard this before – “If not us, who? And if not now, when?” That simple realization got us started, or it wouldn’t have happened at all. The RAF works much that way today. We are a “jump in and figure it out” organization. We sense a need, and bypass the tendency to spend lots of time getting ready to get ready. As RAF Director Bill Brine of Massachusetts says, “The RAF has a bias towards action.” And we attract folks who have that same get-it-done attitude. What I try to do in this piece is relate these words to other parts of my life, and those who spend a few minutes reading them. With it being the giving season, I suggest that one of the best gifts you can perhaps give is one that says, “It might not be easy, but now is a good time to get going or (you guessed it), it won’t happen at all.” In this digital consumption world we live in, I urge you to be your best authentic you. We’re all bombarded with algorithms and social media. If you’re reading this, you are that authentic person the RAF seeks, who pitches in on the team that the RAF thrives on. You can be the wrapping paper around the gift of getting started, of helping others to take meaningful action, and accepting responsibility as opposed to taking credit, all while embracing the learning that comes from the occasional setback. If success had been a requirement ahead of passion, the RAF would not be where it is today. The RAF has proven that people with passion get things done. So, at this time of year, give that gift of passion and leadership, the kind the RAF works hard to exemplify. - John McKenna, RAF Chairman  Submitted December 9th, 2025.