This picture of Ken Scholter, left, with Charles Lindbergh was taken from the book “A Place in the Sky,” by Richard David Wissolik. BUTLER EAGLE FILE PHOTO

Wednesday marks the 95th anniversary of the beginning of the career of an aviation pioneer with ties to Butler County.

The then-17-year-old Ken Scholter had the unforgettable experience this day of meeting famous American pilot Charles Lindbergh.

In 1927, when Lindbergh was doing a flying tour of the United States after his transatlantic solo flight, he landed at Bettis Field, which later became known as Pittsburgh-McKeesport Airport.

Scholter had made a large sign reading "Hello Lindy" that could be seen from the air. Lindbergh saw the sign and decided to land and meet the sign's maker.

According to writer Joyce Echevaria's research, Scholter became involved in the fledgling field of aviation in 1924 when the 14-year-old began running errands and doing odd jobs for pilots at Pittsburgh-McKeesport Airport.

By the time the Great Depression hit the United States, Scholter dropped out of school to work at the airport cleaning planes and learning mechanics.

Scholter received his pilot's license in 1930 when he was 21. By 1931, he became the chief testing pilot for airplane maker Aeroncia in Detroit, where he set an altitude record flying an Aeroncia plane.

When John Graham bought the dormant Penn Township airport in the early 1930s, he asked Scholter to help him get the airport up and running.

It was at the airport that Scholter met Amelia Earhart on May 20, 1932, when she flew in her B-5 Lockheed to have Scholter install a long-range fuel tank and obtain instrument certification from Scholter in preparation for her upcoming transatlantic solo flight.

A longtime manager of the airport from 1935 to 1969, with his retirement, the airport's name was changed to Pittsburgh-Butler Airport and K. W. Scholter Field in his honor.

During the pre-World War II years, Ken contracted with the government's Civil Aeronautics Administration, an Army and Naval cadet training program, to prepare future pilots for air combat. Scholter had the reputation as a tough and demanding instructor with exceptional training skills and methods. Student pilots from many colleges and universities would come to the Butler-Graham Airport for his training program. The United States government considered the Cadet Training Program a key function in military air force training and considered Ken's training program top importance.

For 35 years Ken managed and operated the Butler-Graham Airport until his retirement in 1969. Graham sold the airport in 1991, the airport was renamed Pittsburgh-Butler and the airfield was named in his honor as K.W. Scholter Field.

Ken's achievements in aviation got him inducted into the OX5 Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame at the International Air & Space Hall of Fame in San Diego. Since then, the Pittsburgh-Butler Airport underwent another name change to Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport and the K.W. Scholter Airfield name was eliminated.

Scholter passed away on May 31, 2002, leaving an inspiring legacy.

"He is truly a legend. There should be something, a plaque in front of some of the buildings," said Echevaria of Bloomfield, Conn., a former Butler County resident and freelance writer who wrote a history of Scholter, "Not just a hero, but a legend."