Eloise Ogden/MDN Jim Haff, new manager of the Dakota Territory Air Museum, is shown in the Oswin H. Elker Memorial Wing.

Jim Haff remembers reading British writer Roald Dahl’s autobiography series when he was a boy growing up in Michigan.

“Roald Dahl’s autobiography got me in my fifth grade,” Haff said. “I thought ‘these stories are great’ and then I read about Dahl, who was a fighter pilot.”

Haff’s always had an interest in planes and true stories. He’s now the new manager of the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot.

Haff replaced Glenn Blackaby, who was with the air museum for 14 years.

A native of Michigan, he grew up at Cedar Springs, near Grand Rapids. After high school, he lived in Israel and visited Egypt before going into the U.S. Army.

During his five years in the Army, Haff was a Signals Intelligence linguist. He graduated from the Defense Language Institute in California.

“A year and a half of my service was learning Arabic,” he said.

His military service included Fort Bragg, N.C., and deployment to Iraq.

Haff was discharged from the military in 2009 and moved to Minot a year later. He attended Minot State University, sold insurance, then sold cars before joining the air museum in the manager’s position in February.

Haff explained his enjoyment of nonfiction.

“I’m almost an all nonfiction reader – from a wee kid until now,” he said. “I read some fiction but I love facts – real stories, not just facts.

“I like real history and, as you can see all the time, fact is stranger than fiction,” Haff went on. “It’s amazing to hear what actually happened. You can’t believe how many stories are just lost and just, hopefully, you can find them and enjoy them, share them and keep them alive.”

Haff said he’s just learning many of the stories of the Dakota Territory Air Museum and what is comprised within it.

“I’m still just scratching the surface it seems. Maybe I’m getting a little below the surface but there’s so much – so much depth to it – and just in here,” he said.

Some new projects are on the horizon for the air museum, according to Haff.

“We’re looking at combining our aviation engine displays into a full unit,” he said, naming one of those projects.

But the air museum isn’t just aircraft.

He noted the museum also has a collection of fire trucks.

“They’re absolutely amazing,” he said.

“The main thing is trying to maintain public engagement with these new hurdles that we have,” Haff said, referring to social distancing and other COVID-19 protective measures the air museum follows.

As for what he wants to do as air museum manager, he said, “I want to keep going with what already exists. This place has done awesome.

“I want to keep things moving forward and I would like to increase and maintain a more active relationship with Minot Air Force Base’s airmen and their families as well as veterans to increase our volunteer options that are available,” he said.

The air museum is open every day – Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays from 1-5 p.m.

(Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944 or call 1-800-735-3229. You also can send email suggestions to eogden@minotdailynews.com.)