Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
Sorted by date Results 1 - 11 of 11
Happy New Year, Minnesota Aviators! On behalf of the Minnesota Pilots Association, we wish you safe travels, great aviation adventures and a healthy 2025! We are looking forward to many good things happening this year in aviation, and we hope that together with you we can make it easier to cross paths with each other! The Minnesota Pilots Association will, of course, hold the Great Minnesota Aviation Gathering (GMAG) on Friday and Saturday, May 16-17, at the Buffalo Municipal Airport (KCFE). Thi...
At the Federal Aviation Administration, they have a long term love affair with acronyms. TORA is not the shortened version of a movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, nor is TODA a slightly dyslexic attempt at the same thing. The two are FAA acronyms which along with LDA define useable runway lengths. They mean "Take Off Runway Available," "Take Off Distance Available," and "Landing Distance Available." On a normal (fully useable) runway the numbers are all the same, but if there are...
The Minnesota Tree of Hope toy drive was another huge success! Toys were collected and made ready for distribution, on Saturday, Dec. 7, to over 40 health care facilities in Minnesota. Thanks to the generosity of pilots and aviation enthusiasts many children, who find themselves in health care facilities over Christmas, had the joy of receiving a gift! Even Santa made a special trip from the North Pole to thank the volunteers. A total of 136 bags were packed with over 3800 toys, contributed by...
Two remarkable women from Minnesota scored historical firsts in aviation. Amanda Lee grew up in Mounds View. In 2022 she became the first female to fly for the United States Navy's Demonstration Squadron, aka "The Blue Angels." Almost a century earlier, Florence Klingensmith from Moorhead was the first of her gender to fly in the National Air Races. Besides being pilots, there's a lot of similarities between the two. Neither had aviation as their first career choice. Maintaining airplanes led...
You’ve probably noticed that it’s gotten a bit chilly out there! As we do each winter, I’d like to spend a few minutes talking about just what that cold can do to the unsuspecting pilot. Winter aviation operations have their unique and occasionally severe challenges. I realize most recreational flyers have, by this time of year hung up their wings and headed for the slopes or the ice house. However there are some of you hearty Norsemen who are obliged to operate year round. That exposes you to the risk of hypothermia and frostbite. Life is go...
MARK R. BAKER 1957 - Mark Baker, born in St. Paul, Minnesota, grew up in White Bear Lake. His passion for aviation began in the 1960s when he experienced his first flight in a Cessna 170 during a "penny-a-pound" ride event. By the spring of 1978, he had soloed, earning his private pilot license later that year. Over the years, he added numerous ratings to his credentials, including seaplane and commercial certificates. For many years, Baker dedicated his time to restoring vintage airplanes. His...
As you may have seen in a recent safety column, I attended an aircraft crash survival course given by the FAA at the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. In that course, one of the instructors gave an interesting statistic. If you crash and you have filed a flight plan, the time to rescue is about 24 hours. If you crash without a flight plan, the average time to rescue is 3 days! You might be thinking that doesn’t sound right. Looking at our great state of Minnesota, we do have some very sparsely populated areas with dense forest. If you’re thi...
The use of aircraft to combat submarines began in WWI with the deployment of flying boats and airships to counter German U-Boats. Similar operations evolved during WWII, but with even longer ranged bombers to challenge the new brand of U-Boats that roamed the oceans world-wide. Land-based aircraft predominated at the beginning of the war, but carrier-based aircraft, using the smaller escort carriers ("jeep carriers") and squadrons of hunter-killer teams, backed up by intelligence gathered about...
If you know of any upcoming aviation events, please send an email with details to editor@mnflyer.com so your event can be listed here. EVENTS Feb. 8 Winter Flight Fest, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. EAA Aviation Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Museum events all day and a ski plane fly-in at Pioneer Airport (weather permitting) for more information see EAA.org Feb. 15 Trickair Ski Plane Fly-in, Jackson Sea Plane Base, McGregor, MN. Morning till sunset? Snow plane runway for ski planes and plowed runway for wheelies. Campfire, food, beverages, shelter c...
Henry (Hank) Irlbeck had no idea he would pass down a passion of flying to several generations of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Henry, who was born and raised in Hinckley, joined the Army Airforce after Pearl Harbor was bombed. He flew B17s and B29s stateside. After being discharged when WWII ended he settled in Maplewood and continued to fly with his wife and five children, mostly out of Benson Airport, north of White Bear Lake along with Anoka Airport. He lived in Little Can...
