Flight instructor 'tough' but among best

For flying instructors such as Ken Scholter, World War II was a testament to the knowledge and skills required to prepare young men for combat as Army and Naval aviators.

His longtime friend, student and admirer, Drew Martin, recalled how busloads of students from Carnegie Tech and other Pennsylvania colleges and universities would be brought to what is now Butler County Airport to participate in the Civil Pilot Training Program to try to become pilots.

"The students were given 10 hours of flying lessons in a Piper Cub," Martin said. "And it was up to Ken and the other instructors to determine if the young men had the qualifications."

Kenneth Scholter, a resident of Saxonburg, Butler County, and a respected flier and airport administrator, died from natural causes on Friday, May 31, 2002, in Butler Memorial Hospital. He was 91.

Don Riggs, a former television host and producer, pilot and air show narrator, recalled how important the program was for the country as it was preparing to enter the war.

"I can remember Kenny telling me how in 1940 he and dozens of instructors from small airports throughout the state had met with then Gen. Carl Spaatz at the old Allegheny County Airport," Riggs said. "Spaatz told them in no uncertain terms that in order to defeat Germany, they expected to lose 500 pilots a day."

Riggs also recalled hearing veterans of the air wars saying on several occasions that it was the instruction they received in the Civil Pilot Training Program that helped them survive.

"Ken was just a little guy with a big ego," Martin said. "He was tough with his students, but you understood that as tough as he was, you were receiving the best instruction from a man who devoted his life to the aviation industry."

Born and raised in Duquesne, Mr. Scholter was one of seven children in the family of John and Mame Hartman Scholter. As a youngster, Mr. Scholter would miss school and ride his bicycle to the Pittsburgh-McKeesport Airport in Duquesne, which later became Bettis Field.

"They would constantly chase him away," Martin said. "But he was determined to become a part of the crew. They finally gave up. Ken often said that he started out as their official mascot, errand boy, grease monkey and gas boy. He often would stay over and sleep in a swing under a parachute."

Although working at an airport in those days was tedious, dirty and required a lot of labor, Mr. Scholter never regretted putting in the effort to become a part of an exciting and rapidly growing industry.

It gave him the opportunity to meet Charles Lindbergh, who, Martin said, was Mr. Scholter's hero throughout his long life.

"He was also proud of the card that was issued to him in order to enter an air show in Michigan in 1931, where he set a new altitude record," Martin said. "The card was signed by Orville Wright."

During one of the periods that he spent at what is now the Mid-City Airport in Hudson, Ohio, he had the opportunity to meet Maroon Vanfossen, a young woman from Hudson.

"I'd walk past the airport on my way to work. Ken would often whistle at me, " Mrs. Scholter said. "There was a small barbecue stand next to the airport. Ken and I both knew the owners. He got them to introduce us. He was a gentleman, and I liked him."

Mrs. Scholter recalled that she never worried about the many hours that her husband spent in airplanes and in the air. "I did make him promise to never fly under the bridges in Pittsburgh as he did before we were married."

Mr. Scholter is survived by his wife, Marion Vanfossen Scholter, and sons, James Scholter of Pensacola, Fla., and John Scholter of Atlanta. Interment is private. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in Brownsdale Cemetery, Penn Township, Butler County.