Date Published: December 29, 2006   

2 enter S.C. Aviation Hall of Fame

By RANDY BURNS
Item Staff Writer
rburns@theitem.com

BISHOPVILLE – Two local aviators have been named to the South Carolina Aviation Association Hall of Fame.

State Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, and Bishopville's Ray Butters will be inducted into the hall of fame at the association's annual conference Feb. 8 at Hilton Head. Leventis will also be recognized as the 2006 Aviator of the Year.

Leventis, 61, has served the South Carolina Senate since 1980 and has worked on numerous issues benefiting pilots, aircraft owners and aviation business as well as the state's airports system. His support largely contributed to the Aeronautics Advisory Commission being re-established in the late 1990s in the Department of Commerce and the S.C. Aeronautics Commission being re-established in 2005.

A private pilot, the Sumter native was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force and served as brigadier general of the South Carolina Air National Guard.

Leventis said he was delighted with the recognition.

"The South Carolina Aviation Association is a wonderful group of men and women in our state that promotes aviation and commerce, recreation and tourism ...," Leventis said. "It's an honor to be recognized by this group."

Leventis said he has been flying since he was 19 years old.

"I've flown as a military aviator and as a civilian," he said. "I've flown everything from hang gliders to F-16s. Aviation has been a very important part of my life. I've never gone more than two weeks without flying something. The only exception was during the Persian Gulf War, and then there was a three-week period when I didn't fly."

Leventis said he was particularly pleased to be recognized at the same time as Butters.

"Ray's experience in aviation is extraordinarily broad in that it includes transporters to fighter-type aircraft," he said.

Butters, 90, moved to Bishopville in 1995 after a long career in aviation. His aviation career began when he joined the Army Air Corp. He became an FAA Air Carrier Inspector, and later became a test pilot on the Concorde, A300 and the Corvette.

Once Butters moved to South Carolina, he was determined that Lee County Airport would have a paved runway. Butters is credited with 10 years of personal effort to secure a federal grant of $560,000, and other grants and funding sources to build the airport. A grand opening for the new airport was held in June. The county recognized Butters' efforts by renaming the airport Butters Field.

Butters said he learned of his recognition a couple of days before suffering a heart attack on Dec. 15.

"I haven't had time to think much about it," said Butters, who was hospitalized for a week. "It is a big honor and I appreciate the recognition."

Butter said his recent health problems will not interfere with plans for continued renovation of Butters Field. Construction is expected to begin in early 2007 on phase two of the airport's renovation project which will provide taxiways and a parking ramp area.

Other additions planned to be completed in the future include lighted runways, a lighted wind sock, a new approach system, hangars, a self-fueling facility, a modern terminal with a lobby area, administrative offices, classrooms for training and areas for pilots and flight planning.

George Roberts, who serves on the airport commission, said Butters plays an essential role in the community.

"He's the perfect citizen," he said. "He has the time to give to the community and he's involved in everything."

Roberts said the community owes the airport's existence to Butters.

"If it were not for Ray Butters, the Lee County Airport, Butters Field, would be extinct by, let's say, 2015," he said. "It's like an old school building that sits there and nothing ever happens to it. That's what would have happened to Lee County's airport if it were not for Ray."

Darlington native Billy Farrow and Greenwood's Jimmie Stewart have also been selected as 2007 Hall of Fame inductees.

Farrow flew with the Doolittle Raiders in World War II where he was captured and killed at the age of 24. Stewart is recognized for his efforts to promote aviation as a volunteer pilot for the Commemorative Air Force and Collins Foundation.



Contact Staff Writer Randy Burns at rburns@theitem.com or (803) 491-4533.