Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame Inductee Profile

Each year, the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame (MAHOF) inductee selection committee meets in June to review nomination submissions and to select the following year’s inductees. Selection includes evaluation of a candidate’s significant aviation contributions to Minnesota, the area of the state the individual represents, and other criteria involving career and professional contributions.

Next month’s banquet will honor the MAHOF 2022 inductees and return the organization to its regular banquet schedule. The MAHOF will showcase one inductee a month in the Minnesota Flyer leading up to the annual awards banquet, which is typically held in April. This year, seven inductees have been selected.

Raymond W. Johnson is the sixth of the MAHOF 2022 inductees. A quick reminder: The 2020 MAHOF inductees were featured in the Minnesota Flyer in 2019-2020. There were no 2021 inductees.

Johnson was born and raised in Pine City, Minnesota. After graduating high school he attended the Gale Institute in Minneapolis, where he learned telegraphy and railroad communications. He furthered his education at Northwest Electronics in Minneapolis, receiving his Second-Class FCC license. He received an A&E from Vocational Training School at Janesville, Wisconsin. In 1951, he went to work for the Union Pacific Railroad in Denver as a telegraph operator and station agent.

Serving two years in the U.S. Army, 1953 and 1954, he had additional training in Radio Operator’s classes learning Morse Code.

After he transitioned out of the military, he began taking flying lessons and earned his Private License in 1958, his Instrument from Embry-Riddle in Miami and went on to earn numerous other ratings.

In 1958 Johnson went to work for Jamestown Flying Service as an A&P Mechanic and flew power line patrol and crop spraying. His Commercial and Instrument licenses opened the doors for him to take a corporate flying job with Franklin Manufacturing, Sterner Lighting and finally, Kurt Manufacturing where he would spend his 31-year career from 1966 to 1997 as a corporate pilot.

The Kurt Manufacturing Co. has worldwide connections and he made flights across the U.S. and Canada. Johnson also made transatlantic flights for the company.

Johnson owned several aircraft over the years, beginning with an Aeronca Champ, a Ryan PT-22, two Cessna 152s, a Cessna 180 and a Stearman E75N1 which he meticulously restored over a 20-year period. He flew the Stearman to many local airshows, winning numerous awards. Johnson has earned both the Charles Taylor Master Mechanics Award and the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for over 50 years of accident-free flying and service to the Minnesota aviation community.

Johnson has amassed over 18,000 hours of flight time. That time includes 5,000 hours of personal flying and flight instruction. He gave instructions at Crystal Airport, and then later moved to the Buffalo Airport. Johnson has made a name for himself in the aviation world as a mentor to students and promoter of the Buffalo airport through the organization he developed, Friends of the Buffalo Airport.

He was instrumental in negotiating long-term renewable hangar leases with the city. Johnson also designed, produced, and sold RayJ aircraft towbars.