Scott Bell

Scott Bell of the Bozeman, Montana area got involved with the RAF early on, operating a Bobcat, excavating and placing culverts for the construction of the pilot shelter at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (KBZN). The shelter was completed in the summer of 2007 and has been a popular place for airplane camping and aviation clubs to gather. The Gallatin Airport Authority (of which RAF Chairman John McKenna served for 20 years) cooperated with the RAF on construction of the shelter and while on the project, Scott became interested in the RAF and its mission. “The RAF is an amazing group of people and the accomplishments keep going on and on,” he said. 



Scott is Montana born and raised, and finished his undergraduate and Masters degrees in Engineering at Montana State University close to home. He became Morrison-Maierle’s Lead Engineer at the Bozeman airport in 1984. 


The Bozeman-Belgrade area has seen “unbelievable growth,” he says, and he has worked to accommodate the huge impact in the region with appropriate infrastructure. Scott oversaw projects at BZN since 1984 including the new Interstate 90 Airway Boulevard project, and the adjacent interchange for access to the busy terminal, GA ramps and rental car facility. This airport has become Montana’s busiest, and the Airport’s official January 2020 report tallied 1,573,860 passengers during 2019, a 17.3% increase over 2018, “the tenth consecutive year of record-breaking passenger traffic,” the report stated. 

Admittedly not his biggest project, but Scott added, “I’m also proud that we have a turf runway at the airport.” He has also participate in many GA hangar projects at the airport to handle that demand.  Scott gained his pilot license in 1986 and now flies a 1977 Cessna 182Q with the Robertson STOL modification. His eight grandchildren “are within minutes from his home” and he enjoys sharing his love of aviation with them on VFR days. He also helps the RAF by contributing his cooking skills, specializing in large groups, which has been of valuable help at RAF gatherings. You might say engineering is his vocation; cooking is his avocation, and flying is his vacation!

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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.