CHRIS ARNO

Chris was born, grew up, and now lives in Dover Foxcroft in central Maine. After high school, Chris took after his father in the utility power line trade and now owns a power line construction company that he started with his father who has since retired. Chris has always had a vast interest in aviation, and during his youth had a large collection of RC airplanes. In 2019 at the age of 47, he received his private pilot license – his seaplane rating and tailwheel endorsement soon followed.


Chris has been flying a 1942 Aeronca Super Chief Seaplane and recently completed a three-plus year total overhaul of a Cessna L-19 Birddog along with his IA. “The project started with only the firewall in a jig, and the rest of the airplane built new around it,” he says. It has many performance upgrades and is rigged for wheels, skis and amphibious floats. “The lovable ‘one niner’ (L-19) turned into a bucket list item that I didn’t know I wanted,” Chis added. “I swear that I didn’t have the RAF in mind for the color scheme. My wife Diane picked out the colors for it.”


While still a student pilot owning a Piper Cherokee, Chris had hopes of building a hangar at Charles A. Chase Jr. Memorial Field, (44B) a 3,000-ft grass strip in his hometown. The airport was named for Charles A. Chase Jr. who was tragically killed in December of 1959 while flying his Cub dressed as Santa. The Chase family gifted the airfield to the people of Dover Foxcroft but neglected to stipulate that it remain an airfield in perpetuity.


When Chris learned that the town manager and board had plans to close the airport for a solar power generation farm, he joined the dedicated group of individuals who formed the Save the Charles A. Chase Jr. Memorial Facebook page. It attracted 1,000 followers along with much of the town, as well as Chase family members determined to save the airport.


“The town manager was one postage stamp away from sending the paperwork to the FAA to shut down the runway when this all started,” Chris says. He was introduced to the RAF.


Together with the support of RAF supporters Steve Mason, John Meade, Rene Robillard, and Andy Rowe. Wearing their signature orange, they attended public meetings along with townspeople and Chase family members. The town manager and board of selectmen decided not to close the airport. “The airport is now doing well with three new hangars that have been built since I built mine,” Chris said.


Chris is heavily involved with the charitable organization “Wings for Wishes” that benefits the Make A Wish Maine Foundation which raised over $60,000 in 2023. Wings for Wishes is held each August and brings people together from all over the country to a private airfield in Exeter, Maine. “We eat, laugh, fly, and enjoy each other’s company for a few days but most importantly, we raise money to put smiles on the faces of kids and families who might not have that opportunity without the help of Make A Wish,” he says.


“The RAF has been a big part of my aviation background already, and I have been lucky enough to meet so many great people in the organization. I look forward to seeing more good things we can do to help create, maintain and preserve backcountry aviation!

207-852-1881
carno@theraf.org

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By lellington • December 21, 2025
Bill credits aviation for much of his success in business and the ability to serve his companies and family. What began in a Champ, and a Tri-Pacer owned by five people, turned into what Bill calls, “a key business tool” in which he accumulated 9,000 hours – in a Cheyenne, a Pilatus, and a TBM, where ninety-five percent of his flying was for business. “My retirement enabled me to recall ‘Why I Learned to Fly’, a slogan from an old RAF video.” Bill’s son, Patrick, purchased the C185 they now share. “While attending a business function, some associates arrived in corporate jets. As they joined up on the tarmac, the jet pilots gathered around Patrick’s 185, and one of the passengers asked, ‘What’s special about this?’ No explanation needed for this RAF audience,” Bill says. “My involvement in the RAF is, in a partial way, repaying the rewards aviation has endowed me with. Having been involved in many worthwhile nonprofits, this is one where financial support is only part of the picture. Physically participating in great projects that have a lasting effect, with good people, returns a great personal benefit,” he says. “My only regret is that I wasn’t there at the start.” Bill and his wife Jane are privileged to be able to split time between their long-time home in eastern Nebraska and Scottsdale, Arizona. While still serving on several boards, he enjoys golf “about every third shot,” biking, cars, and reading, but always looks forward to the time he can be involved in the RAF. “It’s flying with a purpose,” he adds. Bill can be reached at bdugan@theraf.org

Jake Hampton

December 15, 2025
AR Ambassador

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.