Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed John D. McClung to the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

If that last name rings a bell, it should. John D. McClung is the father of Brian McClung, the former Pawlenty spokesman and deputy chef of staff. McClung, the younger, left state employee after many years with Pawlenty to direct MN Forward, an independent political fund supported by Minnesota businesses, and form his own PR firm.

McClung, the elder, has some assets on his resume besides siring the occasionally irascible red-headed former Pawlenty flak. He's an "instrument-rated private pilot" and a retired businessman who served as chairman and CEO of Moniterm Corporation in Minnetonka, vice president of operations and general manager of the automotive battery division of Gould Inc/GNB Inc. in Mendota Heights, and accounting supervisor with Inland Steel Company in Indiana.

The airports commission gig is unpaid. McClung's term will expire on January 7, 2013.