Skip to content

This Day in History – June 10, 1969 – The X-15 gets a place in history

10 June 1969: The U.S. Air Force donated the first North American Aviation X-15, serial number 56-6670, to the Smithsonian Institution for display at the National Air and Space Museum. The first of three X-15A hypersonic research rocketplanes built by North American for the Air Force and the National Advisory Committee (NACA, the predecessor of NASA), 56-6670 made the first glide flight and

Read More »
Main Menu
  • Home
  • History
    • About The SSS
    • Headed West
    • Biographies
    • Today in F-100 History
    • SSS Caterpillar
    • Wall of Honor
    • F-100 Information
    • Friends of the Super Sabre
    • N. American F-100 Super Sabre
  • Galleries
  • The Intake
    • About The Intake: Journal
    • The Intake: Journal of the Super Sabre Society – Archives
  • What’s New
  • Contact

Van Riper, Gerrit S.

  • Home
  • Biography
  • Biographies
  • Van Riper, Gerrit S.

Gerrit Sloan Van Riper

Preferred Name: Gerrit
Nickname/Call Sign: Misty 120
Date of Birth: November 16, 1932
Highest Military Grade: 0-6 – Colonel
Hometown: Scotia, NY
Headed West Date: December 12, 2009
Biography
Pilot Information
Headed West
Album

Gerrit graduated from Proctor Academy and attended Middlebury College, VT. He then joined the United States Air Force and served his country for over 23 years. Gerrit completed over 200 combat missions while serving in Vietnam.

Flying as a Misty, he received numerous medals for meritorious service while in flight, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight and the Bronze Star Medal, for meritorious service. He retired from the Air Force in 1975  as a Colonel and became a real estate broker.

Units Assigned

  • “Misty 120”, FAC, Vietnam (F-100)
  • 1975 Retired USAF

Awards & Decorations

Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross
Bronze Star
Bronze Star
Air Medal
Air Medal

Flight Info

F-86
F-100

Military & Civilian Education

Civilian Education:

  • Proctor Academy
  • Middlebury College, VT

Gerrit S. Van Riper, Col USAF, Ret., “Headed West” on December 12, 2009.

Ret. Col. Gerrit Sloan Van Riper, 77, of Scotia and Schroon Lake, NY, died at home Saturday afternoon, in the loving company of his family. Born on November 16, 1932, he was the son of the late Dr. George Sloan Van Riper and Gladys Knox Van Riper of Darien, CT.

Gerrit graduated from Proctor Academy and attended Middlebury College, VT. He then joined the United States Air Force and served his country for over 23 years. Gerrit completed over 200 combat missions while serving in Vietnam. Flying as a Misty, he received numerous medals for meritorious service while in flight, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight and the Bronze Star Medal, for meritorious service. He retired from the Air Force in 1975 as a colonel. After retiring from the military, Gerrit spent many years working as a real estate broker. He was a member in good standing of several associations including the Tri-County Council of Vietnam Veterans, a member of S.E.A.R.L. Golf Club, the Quiet Birdman and was a friend on the Cohoes Planning Council. Gerrit was a member of the Super Sabre Society.

Gerrit enjoyed spending time playing golf, fishing and working on projects at his home in Schroon Lake. Above all, he loved spending time with his granddaughter, Sloan, and his beloved dog, Misty. Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Elizabeth Eleanor Whitford Van Riper; his daughter, Brooke Elizabeth Van Riper Clark (Darrell) of Schroon Lake; his granddaughter, Sloan Elizabeth Clark; and several cousins, nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, Gerrit was predeceased by his brother, Peter Knox Van Riper of California.

Relatives and friends are invited to call at the Bekkering-Ellis Funeral Home, 1 Mohawk Ave., Scotia on Thursday, December 17 from 5 to 8 p.m. Services will be held Friday, December 18 at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Saratoga National Cemetery, 200 Duell Rd., Schuylerville, NY at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made to the Ret. Col. Gerrit S. Van Riper Memorial Scholarship Fund, Glens Falls National Bank, Rt. 9, Schroon Lake, NY 12870.

VanRiper, Gerrit With Aircraft
Album Slideshow
Slideshow
Click To View

Wall of Honor Location

Our Mission

The mission of the Super Sabre Society is to preserve the history of the F-100 Super Sabre and the men who flew the aircraft.

Follow Us

Copyright © 2025 Super Sabre Society
Website by: Heart and Soul Web Design
Scroll to Top