About Us

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

The Aero Club of Pittsburgh was founded in 1909 to promote aerial demonstrations and was dormant until 1920 or so, when it was restricted to WWI pilots and observers. It was not until a decade later that non-military pilots were accepted.

Clifford Ball (November 29, 1891 - June 2, 1972) graduated from McKeesport High School in 1910 and continued his education by taking evening courses at Duquesne University and business courses at Duffs Iron City College. He was an American farmer, soldier, bookkeeper, clerk, automobile dealer, airplane dealer, airline owner, airline operator, airline executive, radio manufacturer, Civil Air Patrol officer and chaplain, and aviation pioneer. He joined the club when he was 18 years old and eventually became the President of the ACP for 30 years.

In 1996, the Aero Club of Pittsburgh actively hosted monthly meetings with a great speaker series and an amazing, well-attended annual Christmas party. The ACP wanted to establish a 501c3, and The Aviation Foundation emerged.

MOMENTUM LOST

In 1997, The Aviation Foundation began with aspirations to save the Art Deco Greater Pittsburgh International Airport Terminal from demolition as well as raffle a brand-new Cessna-172. Arnold Palmer even agreed to draw the winning ticket! After many meetings and much planning, the hurdles became insurmountable when Pennsylvania declared the raffle illegal due to the prize valuation. Both worthy projects were totally scrapped. Interest in the Aero Club of Pittsburgh and The Aviation Foundation waned.

HERE WE GROW

Don Rhodes (nuclear physicist, ATP) and Karl Voigt (engineer, pilot) were the two men running the foundation during the lean years. In 2019, they advised former TAF president, Linda Benning (airline transport pilot, entrepreneur), that the foundation was being shut down due to negative momentum. Linda requested time to reignite interest, and they both agreed.

Enter aviation enthusiast, Myles Lilley (Dollar Bank, pilot). He discovered that Pennsylvania escheated the remaining monies from the Aero Club of Pittsburgh and contacted Linda Benning, the president listed in an old Aero Club directory. (Money was eventually restored, but it took lots of patience, paperwork, and more than two years.)

Myles was added to the foundation board. Then came Ralph Beatty (airline transport pilot, businessman). "Sleuth" Myles was searching to find a home for a Luscombe aircraft donated to the foundation in the late '90s. The cloth-covered hull had been in storage in East Pittsburgh, but in 2020 was reunited with THE man who restores cloth-covered Luscombe aircraft and makes them airworthy. What were the odds!

We onboarded PNC aviation support, Sandy Levandosky, and entrepreneurs, George Polachek, Mark Milovats, Joseph Teplitz, and John Fitchwell.

TAF began a series of matching scholarships in partnership with the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics. We added scholarships for a five-day camp in the 9–16-year-old age group at NASA’s U.S. Space and Rocket Center in 2023 and began pilot training scholarships with Laurel Highlands Aeronautical Academy in 2025.

The aviation community is facing an acute shortage of talented, trained employees in all areas of aviation.

The Aviation Foundation is a publicly funded 501(c)3 with more than 95% of the donations going directly to our programs. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation.