Ray Costello created aviation system plan

When Ray Costello gets interested in something, there’s no going half-way. For instance, his interest in his Irish heritage led to many trips to Ireland over the years with his children and grandchildren. His northeast Corvallis home is filled with Celtic treasures.

Flying is another passion which has been a constant most of his life. It dates back to World War II, when he first climbed into the cockpit. Now, long-since retired from his career as a pilot and aeronautics planner, Costello, 87, still clocks as much air time as he can get in his private plane. He has been inducted into the Oregon Aviation Hall of Fame.

“I love to fly … it’s tremendously exhilarating,” he said.

Born and raised in British Columbia to American parents, Costello moved to California at age 16, after his father passed away. He attended school there, and was enlisted as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps when World War II broke out. Shortly afterward, he married Floy Bellenger.

During the war, Costello flew combat missions in the Pacific Theater. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, he was airport manager in California, but he was called back into active duty to participate in the Berlin Airlift. Afterward, he was sent to Japan, and ended up flying for the Air Force during the Korean War, soon commanding a helicopter air rescue unit.

Costello’s unit was the first to use helicopters to evacuate wounded soldiers out of combat areas. He was also involved in the rescue of a downed airman in enemy territory, an exercise that involved a considerable amount of danger, and earned him the Silver Star.

After the war, he was stationed at the NATO Air Rescue Center in Germany, and then, when the Vietnam War broke out, he was named Chief of Special Air Force Projects Branch in Vietnam. He ended his Air Force career in 1966 at Adair Air Force Station, and decided to settle his family in Corvallis, on a 25-acre parcel near Adair that they named “Rivendell” after the Elven paradise created by J.R.R. Tolkien.

But retirement from the Air Force merely opened another door into the world of aviation. Costello became assistant administrator and director of planning for the Oregon Aeronautics Division.

While working there, he was approached by the Federal Aviation Administration. Would he create an aviation system plan as a basis for running general aviation airports across the country? He said yes.

General aviation airports are those whose main source of traffic is private and business flightcraft rather than commercial airliners. Corvallis is a good example of a general aviation airport. Eugene is both a general aviation and carrier airport, so the plan Costello created in the early 1970s applies to both airports.

Costello’s plan included safety, finance and zoning aspects. The FAA was impressed; so impressed that Costello’s plan remains the model used to build and operate general aviation airports to this day.

“It was our entry onto the national scene as a leader in aviation planning,” he said.

Costello’s excellence in aviation has brought him some high-flying recognition. He’s been inducted into the Aviation Hall of Honor in McMinnville and, earlier this month, he received the Oregon Aviation Historical Society’s Hall of Fame Award.

“I was very humbled and honored,” he said, standing in front of a wall of awards he’s received over the years.

The awards are nice, but nothing compares with the thrill of flight. Having undergone a quadruple bypass heart surgery 12 years ago, Costello has an intensive physical exam each year, so he still can soar into the skies whenever he gets the opportunity. How often is that? The veteran aviator didn’t hesitate:

“Not often enough.”

At a glance

Who: Lt. Col. (Ret) Ray Costello, 87

What: Decorated combat pilot, aeronautics innovator

Family: Wife Floy, 87; children Michelle, Patrice, Bill, Kevin and Colleen; seven grandchildren; one great-grandchild with another about to arrive.