Former DNR Chief Pilot Was Avionics Use Pioneer

Forty some years ago an aviation revolution was occurring, one of the biggest changes since Jimmy Doolittle flew without seeing outside the airplane. Point-to-point navigation using VORs and NDBs was being replaced by "area navigation." It more or less began with Long Range Radio Navigation or "LORAN."

Use of LORAN by aircraft goes back to World War II, but the hardware was two large "black boxes" and it was mostly used on big transports for over water flights. A couple of avionics manufactures miniaturized the on-board system to about the size of a VHF radio, but it was soon replaced by the ubiquitous GPS.

Pilots who worked for larger organizations were trying hard to convince the "bean counters" that the new stuff would greatly help with their work.

Dick Stoltman did that for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, where flying often requires pin-point accuracy.

In 1979, DNR pilots were using county plat books for the necessary accuracy. Pages from the books were taped into a long strip then rolled into a scroll.

For wildlife surveys a biologist would sit in the right seat with the scroll and help the pilot count the birds in each area. That year Stoltman attended a meeting of the International Association of Natural Resource Pilots in Sacramento, California.

He learned there was a better way and convinced the state government that equipping DNR aircraft with LORAN then GPS was a good investment.

Not only was a right seater no longer needed to manage the scroll work, but the location of violators could be pinpointed to the nearest meter.

In the third decade of the 21st century, it is difficult to realize how much this changed aviation, but revolutionary is not an overstatement.

That Dick Stoltman ended up with the DNR is no surprise. As a youth he loved the outdoors and once made a 30-day trip from one end of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area to the other then back. From the time he was in the eighth grade he wanted to be a "Game Warden"

and when he took the state exam, he finished seventh out of over 1,200 candidates. The aviation story is a little more interesting. In the 1960s the slogan "draft beer not people" was popular. The U.S. government was having none of that, so a male with 18 years or more on the planet and all the required body parts was likely to get some military experience.

Dick fit the criteria, but he had an ace up his sleeve. He had a private pilot's license but not a degree so U.S. Army aviation was his best option. Most Army pilots fly helicopters which Dick describes as "10,000 moving parts built by the low bidder."

Fortunately, Stoltman found a recruiter who by carefully wording agreements and orders got him assigned to fixed wing training. U.S. Army fixed wing aircraft of the Vietnam era (like most of their pilots) were militarized civilians.

Dick's trainers were the T-41 (Cessna 172) and T-42 (Beech Baron). Operationally Warrant Office Stoltman flew the U-6 (De Haviland Beaver), U-9 (Aero Commander), and C-45 (Twin Beech). During his tour in Vietnam, he flew the O-1 (also called the L-19) Birddog which was a two-seat derivative of the Cessna 170. He caught a break and was assigned to headquarters company of the 11th Combat Aviation Battalion. HQ involved a lot of paperwork and time flying a desk. That was much safer than spotting for artillery while the Viet Cong were trying to ruin the pilot's day with AK-47s, but Dick flew enough combat to be awarded the Air Medal. Joining the DNR in 1975, Stoltman figured his flying days were over. He was a game warden (now conservation officer) in St. Cloud when upper management realized he knew how to fly.

He flew out of New Ulm until 1988 when he moved to Brainerd. Stoltman's Birddog experience came in handy as the DNR fleet was composed of Cessna Taildraggers, 180s and 185s that are direct descendants of the 170. His desk flying experience came

in handy too. At the turn of the century, he was the department's chief pilot, a position he held until he retired in 2003.