Curt Erickson pioneered training in instrument-flying

As a child, Curtis Erickson of Savage was fascinated with the air mail pilots who buzzed over his family's farm during the 1930s in Dawson, Minn.

Erickson, a Minnesota aviation pioneer in flight-instrument training, died July 27 in Shakopee of complications from pneumonia.

He was 80.

He was inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame in 2007.

Erickson, who took his first ride in a barnstormer's plane at age 8, would run across farm fields waving at pilots, said his son Roger Erickson of Duxbury, Mass.

"He would chase them as long as he could," he said. "They'd wave back, and continued coming over the farm, because they got such a kick out of Dad."

He joined the Navy after graduating from Dawson High School in 1945, hoping to become a pilot. An ear problem kept him grounded.

He saw an opportunity, when the military was selling flight simulators used in flying by instruments. After 12 years in the Navy, he began IFT, or Instrument Flight Training, with a partner.

Bert Anderson of Cook, a former IFT instructor and former North Central Airlines pilot, said Erickson's patience and excellent communication skills made him and his firm the place to go for the complicated task of learning instrument flying.

Erickson taught hundreds of pilots to fly by instruments, said Sherm Booen of Richfield, the founder of Minnesota Flyer magazine.

"He was an extraordinary teacher," Booen said.

Erickson was the first in the state to teach instrument training on a significant scale, said Booen said.

In 1962, he sold IFT to Van Dusen Air, an airplane service corporation that hired him to buy and sell airplane service businesses in the United States, Canada and Mexico. He also served as the firm's chief pilot.

As a charter pilot he carried the rich or famous, such as the King of Norway.

He played leadership roles in several aviation organizations, such as the Minnesota Aviation Trades Association, where he served as the group's president and longtime board member.

He enjoyed flying family members to Alaska, following the Alaska-Canadian Highway.

"Because of his passion for aviation, he believed he never worked a day in his life," said his son.