![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rodney-Schaaf-Head-Shot-edit.jpg\")
Rodney B. Schaaf was born July 20th, 1950, in Hettinger,\nNorth Dakota. After graduating from\nBowman High School in 1968, he attended NDSU and joined the Reserve Officer\nTraining Corps. Following his graduation\nin 1972, Schaaf joined the Air Force was assigned to pilot training where was\nnamed a Distinguished Pilot Graduate with a top 10 standing within the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schaaf\u2019s first military assignment sent him to the Grand\nForks Air Base as a KC-135 flight crew member. Flying KC-135 missions involved\ncompleting in-flight refueling and passenger airlift operations worldwide,\ntaking him from North Dakota to Alaska, Spain, England, Hawaii, Guam, Japan,\nand Korea. During his military service,\nhe achieved the rank of Captain. His missions included refueling aircraft\nreturning from the skies over Vietnam during the conflict. He also acted in the\ncommander role for formation flights of up to six KC-135 tanker aircraft\nrefueling 4 fighters per tanker, moving 30 aircraft to different military\nbases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following his honorable discharge from the Air Force in\n1978, Schaaf was hired as a pilot for Delta Airlines and continued a successful\ncareer through his retirement in 2004. As a Delta pilot, he flew the Boeing\n727, 737, 757,767 and MD82 airliners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schaaf has been an active member of the North Dakota\naviation community throughout his life. \nIn 2012, he became the fourth pilot to complete the state\u2019s Passport\nProgram, where he flew to all 89 public-use airports in North Dakota. Schaaf\nhas also assisted many others in their completion of this achievement as he\nbelieves in the importance of the program and how it allows people to interact\nwith the aviation community across North Dakota. Schaaf also continually advocates for youth\naviation education and development. Throughout the years, he has actively\nparticipated in many different aviation related events within North Dakota, as\nwell as Oshkosh, and Sun in Fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schaaf was also appointed to serve on the Bowman County\nAirport Authority in 2007 and he acted as the chairman of the board for over a\ndecade. In this role, he was the primary liaison between the Bowman Airport and\nthe county, state, and federal agencies. Through his involvement at the airport,\nhe also helped to coordinate and assist with activities at the airport that\nincluded hail suppression, crop-dusting, and medical flights. Schaaf also goes\nout of his way to help incoming aviators with obtaining fuel, ground\ntransportation, and to provide information about the local area. He has even\nbeen known to offer his hangar space to visiting pilots and their aircraft when\nsevere weather occurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the chairman of the airport authority, Schaaf was\ninstrumental in the planning, design, and construction of the new Bowman\nRegional Airport which was opened to the public in 2015. He volunteered countless hours consulting\nwith contractors, engineers, and state\/federal agencies to ensure that the new\nairport would be a state-of-the-art facility for Bowman and its neighboring\ncommunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schaaf has also been involved in efforts that would improve\nall of North Dakota\u2019s airports. He has\nbeen involved in statewide initiatives with the Airport Association of North\nDakota and he has provided testimony before state legislative committees to\nhelp promote airport funding initiatives for construction and maintenance\nprojects, representing the \u201cLittle Guy\u201d general aviation airports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, he has advocated for aviation efforts across\nNorth Dakota and has been especially proactive with the Powder River MOA. He\nhas worked with Air Force and FAA staff members in addition to state personnel\nin North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana to advocate for and improve the\nexperience for general aviation. His tireless efforts have been effective to\nenhance radar coverage, radio communications, instrument approach procedures,\nand other considerations that enhance safety for aviators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to his dedication to promoting aviation across\nNorth Dakota, Schaaf has also been an active citizen and community volunteer.\nHe has helped as a Cub Scout leader and has taken numerous young aviators on\nintroductory flights to promote general aviation. He has also served as a\nTalbot Township Supervisor and Bowman County Zoning Officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schaaf\u2019s leadership and support throughout his lifetime has led to significant developments and growth in aviation for the state of North Dakota.\u00c2\u00a0 The aviation hall of fame committee thanks Rodney for his service and is looking forward to his induction this spring. For more information on the North Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame, visit the website at fly-nd.com\/Hall-of-fame<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The North Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame committee has announced that Rodney Schaaf of Bowman, North Dakota has been selected for induction into the state\u2019s Aviation Hall of Fame. Schaaf will join the prestigious aviation hall of fame group that currently includes 47 other individuals who have all had a significant impact to the growth, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-north-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24629,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24627\/revisions\/24629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}