RAF ADDS SECOND LIAISON IN WA

Ambassador Ray Ballantyne has moved to a State Liaison volunteer role in Washington, joining current Liaison Dave Whitelaw.

Ray was born into an aviator family as his father was a WWII CG-4A Combat Glider pilot who met his mother at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, TX while she was training to be a WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot). Ray earned his pilot’s license before he got his driver’s license. “I thought I was cool in high school giving friends airplane rides,” he says.

He was hired by the FAA as an Air Traffic Control (ATC) specialist in 1977 and assigned to the small Flight Service Station in Cut Bank, Montana. His first flight into Schafer Meadows, MT the summer of 1979 started a lifelong love of backcountry flying. His 34 year ATC career included several towers in Alaska – Bethel, Fairbanks, Anchorage and Merrill – while also doing some part time commercial air taxi flying at Bethel and Fairbanks; and Colorado Springs. Moving from Alaska in 2000, he was the Terminal Hub Manager for Oregon working at the Portland ATCT/TRACON.

After a stint in the Regional office in Seattle, he served as the Quality Assurance manager for Los Angeles ARTCC. Leaving there for duty at the national FAA Headquarters in DC, he finished his career as Senior Advisor to the Western Service Area Terminal Director in Seattle.

A couple of unusual air traffic assignments placed Ray on a Coast Guard cutter in Prince William Sound, and on the bridge of the Exxon Valdez during the 1989 oil spill. During Alaska’s Iditarod Sled Dog Race he conducted temporary ATC at the Skwentna checkpoint.

“My wife Lisa and I are actively retired at our hangar-home in Sequim, Washington, and enjoy flying our GlaStar to magical airstrips around the Washington, Oregon and Idaho areas,” Ray says. Lisa serves the RAF as a VP of Appreciation. Ray is active with golf, his local EAA 430 chapter, and now has stepped up to join Dave Whitelaw as an RAF Washington State Liaison.

Ray can be reached at rballantyne@theraf.org.

Submitted on May 13, 2024
By Carmine Mowbray

ROB KEANE

February 24, 2026

FLORIDA AMBASADOR

HOWIE BOHL

February 24, 2026

CALIFORNIA AMBASSADOR

RAF AWARDS GRANT FOR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF HCRC

February 24, 2026

Oregon RAF Liaison Bill Ables has been awarded a $5,000 RAF grant to retain RAF membership in and support the Hells Canyon Recreation Collaborative (HCRC) for the next five years. The HCRC was organized in 2016 at the request of Idaho’s Congressional Delegation as a framework for the various recreational user groups to collaborate with the US Forest Service within the 652,488-acre Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Ables, a past Director and current member of the group, explained that HCRC membership is a cross-section of user groups from both the private and commercial sectors, including river rafters and jet boaters, backpackers, horse packers, aviators, and governmental management agencies. Providing ongoing support ensures continued aviation representation. The rugged Snake River canyon region hugs the borders of northeastern Oregon and western Idaho, and includes nine backcountry airstrips within the Recreational Area. All are maintained by volunteer aviation groups in collaboration with the USFS: Cache Creek, Salmon Bar, Dug Bar, Temperance Creek, Pittsburg Landing, Sluice Creek, Lord Flat, Memaloose, and Big Bar. “Our support of HCRC, combined with the other involved aviation groups, ensures ongoing maintenance and improvements at each of these nine airstrips. It benefits general aviation by preserving access to enjoy the beauty of the Hells Canyon area, which directly speaks to the Mission of the RAF,” Ables said. For more information on Dug Bar, Cache Creek, Big Bar, and Memaloose, see the Airfield Guide . Pittsburg Landing, Sluice Creek, Temperance Creek, and Salmon Bar are not listed in the Airfield Guide at this time. Submitted February 24, 2026