The Rapid City Flying Aces were a professional

indoor American football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller a ...

team in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

. Like their predecessors, the Black Hills Red Dogs, they played their home games at the Don Barnett Arena in Rapid City. As of April 2007, the Flying Aces did not belong to any football league. The team was affiliated with the original Indoor Football League in 2000; with the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, A ...

from 2001 to 2004 and in 2006; and with

United Indoor Football United Indoor Football (UIF) was an indoor football league in the United States that operated from 2005 to 2008. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion (the Dayton Warbirds, which never played a game in UIF ...

in 2005. The team considered rejoining

in 2008. The Flying Aces won at least 10 out of 14 games three times in their seven seasons; however, organizational turmoil threatened the existence of the franchise.

History

2000–2005

The team began play as the Black Hills Machine of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...

in 2000. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the

Topeka Kings Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Un ...

. When the IFL folded, the franchise moved to the newly formed

as a charter member and became the Rapid City Red Dogs. The team played in the NIFL from 2001 to 2003. In 2004, the franchise renamed itself the Black Hills Red Dogs. In 2005, the Red Dogs joined the

as a charter member and won a single game during their inaugural season in the UIF. Also in 2005, the team signed quarterback

Chris Dixon Chris Dixon is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is a general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and previously worked at eBay. He is also the co-founder and former CEO of Hunch. He was #1 on the Midas L ...

. Dixon would later become the first indoor football player to throw for 500 touchdowns in his career.

2006 season

In 2006, the franchise moved back to the NIFL and became the Rapid City Flying Aces. During the 2006 season, they began the season 8–0. It appeared the team was going to fold when owner Howard Neal left the franchise in a financial mess; However, several local investors helped pay the bills and save the team. The team went on to the Pacific Conference title game, where they lost to the

Billings Outlaws The Billings Outlaws were a professional league indoor football team based in Billings, Montana. They were a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), of which they were the 2-time defending champions. They played their home games at Rimrock A ...

. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to save the team and the franchise would fold in December 2006. Former owner Howard Weiner, who went by the alias "Howard Neal", was sentenced to four months in prison after admitting to committing bank fraud and was also sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $116,000 in restitution. He had until July 18, 2011, to turn himself in at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Coleman, Florida.

Season-by-season

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Black Hills Machine (IFL) , - , 2000 , , 10 , , 4 , , 0 , , 2nd WC Northern , , Lost Round 1 (

Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Un ...

) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Rapid City Red Dogs (NIFL) , - , 2001 , , 13 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st PC Central , , Lost Round 1 (

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

) , - , 2002 , , 6 , , 8 , , 0 , , 4th PC Western , , — , - , 2003 , , 7 , , 7 , , 0 , , 3rd PC Western , , — , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Black Hills Red Dogs (NIFL) , - , 2004 , , 3 , , 11 , , 0 , , 4th PC Western , , — , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Black Hills Red Dogs (UIF) , - , 2005 , , 1 , , 14 , , 0 , , 4th North , , — , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Rapid City Flying Aces (NIFL) , - , 2006 , , 11 , , 3 , , 0 , , 1st Pacific West , , Won Pacific Semi-Final ( Katy)
Lost Pacific Championship (

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

) , - !Totals , , 52 , , 51 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Notable players

* Renz Julian – American rapper *

Scott Pingel Scott Pingel is an American bassist who is the principal bassist in the San Francisco Symphony. He had been the principal bassist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. In 2011 Pingel had the privilege of performing on the acclaimed Karr-Koussevit ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Source for Flying Aces news and informationNational Indoor Football League websiteUnited Indoor Football website
Indoor Football League (1999–2000) teams American football teams in South Dakota American football teams established in 2000 American football teams disestablished in 2006 Sports in Rapid City, South Dakota 2000 establishments in South Dakota 2006 disestablishments in South Dakota