Grove Rathbun
Grove Rathbun, president of the South Dakota Pilots Association, has turned 80, but remains a very active general aviation pilot after an interesting career in the Air National Guard. He was born in Deadwood, South Dakota, and grew up on a sugar beet farm in the Belle Fourche River valley of Nisland, S.D.
Rathbun learned to fly in a J-3 Cub the summer of 1947 between his junior and senior years of high school at Newell, S.D., while working for U.S. Steel in Hibbing, Minnesota.
He said that his interest in flying started when he would watch B-17s stationed at the Rapid City Army Air Base during World War II. “Quite often they would fly over very low, which was very motivating,” said Rathbun. “We could tell the training status of each class as they went through their various phases of training before going overseas. We would see single B-17s, then pairs, then flights of four and finally flights of eight to 16. Then back to singles and we knew that a training class had graduated and was on their way overseas.”
In June of 1952, Rathbun returned to the Mesabi Iron Range as an engineer trainee for U.S. Steel and continued his flying.
In February of 1954, Rathbun joined the Minnesota Air National Guard in Duluth, Minnesota, and applied for pilot training. After completing a USAF physical and stamina test at Chanute AFB, he was assigned to an aviation cadet pre-flight class at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, Texas, in March 1954.
From Lackland AFB, Rathbun was transferred to a primary training base at Kinston, N.C., where he flew 20 hours in a Piper PA-18 and 80 hours in the North American T-6G. He was introduced to air navigation, aerobatics, and instrument and night flying in the T-6G, as well as the normal upgrade to a more advanced aircraft.
From Kinston, Rathbun was transferred to the single-engine basic flight-training base at Williams AFB, Chandler, Ariz., in March 1955. In basic he flew 40 hours in the North American T-28A and 80 hours in the Lockheed T-33A. In basic flight training, he was introduced to formation flying and continued training in air navigation, aerobatics, and instrument and night flying. Graduation from basic flight training included getting his wings and being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force on August 1, 1955.
From Williams AFB, Rathbun transferred first to Laughlin AFB, Del Rio, Texas for combat training in the T-33A, and then to Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, for combat training in the North American F-86E and F-86F. The Nellis AFB training completed the USAF pilot training program in November 1955.
In December 1955, Rathbun returned to Duluth and started training in the Lockheed F-94A and F-94B all-weather interceptor with the Minnesota ANG. In 1957, he transitioned to the Lockheed F-94C and in 1959 to the Northrop F-89J. He also resumed his career with U.S. Steel as a mining engineer on the Mesabi Iron Range.
In 1958, Rathbun went back to school for a graduate degree in Mining at the University of California, Berkeley. When he graduated in June 1959, he returned to Minnesota and resumed his career with both U.S. Steel and the Minnesota ANG in Duluth.
In 1960, the Air National Guard started flying active air defense alerts. “I was able to participate nights and on weekends,” said Rathbun. “Most of our scrambles were for fishermen coming out of Canada without filing a flight plan and penetrating the Northern ADIZ.
In 1965, U.S. Steel transferred Rathbun to Pittsburgh, Pa. and he also transferred to the Pennsylvania ANG, where he transitioned to the Convair F-102A. He was also able to continue flying active air defense alerts nights and weekends.
In 1985, Rathbun retired from U.S. Steel and moved to Rapid City, S.D., where he had a one-year contract to teach at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology filling in for a professor, who was on sabbatical. He taught again from 1989 to 1992 while the new Industrial Engineering Department was being established.
In 1974, Rathbun participated in the USAF William Tell Weapons Meet at Tyndall AFB in Florida. This competition was for the “Top Gun” award of the Air Defense Command.
The Pittsburgh ANG unit was converted from the Air Defense Command in 1975 to a Tactical Air Command unit, and Rathbun transitioned into the LTV A-7D fighter bomber, which he flew until he retired in 1981 with the rank of Colonel and the aeronautical rating of Command Pilot.
During his military career, Rathbun was able to acquire a commercial pilot certificate and instrument rating.
Rathbun got married in June 1956, and he and his wife, Janet, have three sons, a grandson, and a granddaughter.
Their oldest son, Steve, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has been a hang-glider pilot since 1984. He recently obtained his private pilot and glider pilot certificates, and bought his own glider in 2009.
In 1994, Rathbun purchased his first and only airplane, “so far,” he says, a 1966 Cessna 182J Skylane, which he and Janet have flown to Oregon and Texas.
Rathbun has been a member of the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA) since 1956, and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) since 1996.
Recently the South Dakota Pilots Association (SDPA) has been involved in the AirVenture Cup Race that was launched from Mitchell, S.D. in 2008 and again in 2010. It has been a very successful event and well received by the participants and general public.
The founding president of SDPA, Bobbie Potts, recruited Rathbun to be the district director for the southwest district #6 in 1994, and he has been a member ever since. In 2005, Rathbun was elected vice-president and in 2007, president.
Rathbun received The Wright Brothers “Master Pilot” Award in 2005 from the FAA.
SDPA has had gradual, but fairly steady growth to a current membership of 325 members. In addition to the organization’s statement goals, their newsletter and website have been very well received.
For additional information on the South Dakota Pilots Association refer to www.sdpilots.com.
