CASPER, Wyo. — Burns farmer Richard Bastian is the 2024 inductee into the Wyoming Aviation Hall of Fame, with the WAHF recognizing Bastian for a 50-year-plus career in aviation mechanics, restoration and acrobatics.
On Sept. 20, Bastian was formally recognized for his achievements at an event at the hangar of Bastian Aircraft, which he started in 1970 near his airstrip.
“It has been said that Bastian’s ‘aircraft and abilities put Burns, Wyoming, on the world map for any serious aerobatic competitor or airshow pilot flying a Pitts Special,'” WAHF president John Waggener wrote in the announcement shared Friday by WYDOT. “With his craftsmanship, creativity, and knowledge, his business surged with customers approaching him to have their aircraft modified or rebuilt, or to request to have him build an airplane.”
Bastian was born in Cheyenne in 1948 and was raised on the family ranch near Burns. He began flying in 1965, soon under the instruction of Les Larson, a longtime instructor in Cheyenne. He soloed in 1966 in his recently purchased Cessna 140, the WAHF said. He got his pilot’s license after graduating from Burns High School in 1967.
In 1970, he joined the Wyoming Air National Guard as a flight line mechanic, providing time inspections and general maintenance “during a time of significant change when the unit was transitioning from the older piston-driven C-121 Constellation to the turboprop-powered C-130 Hercules,” Waggener wrote. Bastian served in the Guard until 1975.
Bastian has performed as an acrobatic pilot at airshows around the state, including in Cheyenne and Sheridan. He competed in the U.S. National Aerobatics Championships and the Rocky Mountain Aerobatic Championships, where he earned first place in the 1978 competition, Waggener wrote.
Bastian’s experience led him to join the crew of the U.S. Aerobatics Team. In 1978, he was the team mechanic at the World Aerobatic Championships in Czechoslovakia. In 1980, he was the team mechanic and technical advisor for the world championships held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Waggener said Bastian became one of the nation’s foremost authorities on vintage aircraft and was invited to build a flying replica of the first Pitts for a 75th birthday celebration to honor aircraft designer Curtis Pitts in 1990.
He and his wife Shirley raised four children on their farm near Burns.
