Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
Sorted by date Results 22 - 46 of 102
Downtown Moorhead is having a renaissance. It's a welcoming place featuring some great artwork. The Ace Hardware Store on Main has added to the ambiance by sponsoring a mural of Florence Klingensmith. The Moorhead native was one of 99 women aviators who banded together to promote aviation for the female gender of the human species. Not surprisingly, the organization is called the "Ninety-Nines." They started in 1929 with Amelia Earhart as the first president. Among her claims to fame, Klingensmi...
When the telegraph put the Pony Express out of business, Morse Code was the medium for transmitting electronic messages. Later it was used by ship's radio operators and then by aircraft. Until the early 1950s, a radio operator and telegraph key flew on many international flights. Amateur Radio (or Ham) was the last stronghold of Morse Code and Ham operators were required to be proficient as recently as 2002. Aviation is the vestigial user of Morse Code where navigation aids still broadcast their...
Fertile Municipal Airport is built on the shore of one of the Earth's largest lakes. Unfortunately, the lake went away a few millennia ago. Lake Agassiz was formed by melting glaciers and the famous Sand Hills around Fertile were once the beach. That bit of geological history means the immediate neighborhood belies the name. Mostly oak savanna and prairie, the soil is not good for growing crops. The Sand Hills do provide unique recreational activities and a spectacular natural area called the...
Independent flight schools had their "golden age" in the 1960s and 70s when there were four training operations at Crystal and the sky all-around was never still. Two of those operations also had busy aircraft charter services. There were some colorful characters too, including Lee Gilligan, who owned Crystal-Shamrock Airways. Shamrock was a Cessna Pilot Center and one of the last operators to offer passenger service in the DC-3. In the 21st century, most flight training transitioned to large...
Many places have cold weather, but in International Falls it can be spectacular. Citizens of International Falls and Koochiching County embrace the climate, not just tolerate it. Winter gets cold, but summer is comfortably warm. Whatever the season, this area offers some of the best outdoor recreation in North America. Those who live there love it, and lots of people visit for a taste. The best way to get there is by flying to the "Falls International Airport," aka INL. The airport is a joint...
When Orville stepped off the Wright Flyer on Dec. 17, 1903, the first thing he said was, "Where's the bathroom?" Well, maybe not. But once flights got longer toilets became a high priority after landing. When flight plans and IFR clearances were invented, a telephone became the second thing pilots needed. Back in the "old days" rural airports often had an "out house" and a phone booth to fill the need. If phone booths are a mystery to you, think "Tardis." As General Aviation evolved, what...
A small investment can result in a big improvement. In 2020, a simple project at the Fergus Falls Municipal Airport added considerably to airport safety by relocating a taxiway. Coincidentally, this was the oldest pavement on the airport and very much needed of replacement making the project very cost effective, a good two for one deal. In simple terms, the taxiway was too close to Runway 17/35. FAA language is more complicated, but the result was the same. Advisory Circular 150/5300-13A...
"Blind luck will beat careful planning every time" might be a good theory for managing stuff like your finances. Thousands of authors have written millions of pages about financial planning, most of which isn't very helpful. Talking with "experts" is quicker but likely not much better. However, planning aviation facilities requires a more scientific approach. Fortunately, the FAA has provided several hundred pages of succinct advice on how to plan airports. A few days of fascinating reading shou...
Business and commercial flights to rural airports work best if take offs and landings can happen even if the weather's not so good. What does an airport owner do when some important users need lower instrument approach minimums to operate effectively? The city of Roseau recently debated that question and came up with the right answer. Snowmobiles were invented in Roseau and Polaris Industries is the premier manufacturer of those machines. Roseau native Edgar Hetten founded Polaris, but the...
Lots of general aviation airports have only one runway. Some have two, and a few busy ones near urban areas might have three or even four. In many cases, the runway configuration is historic. Airports developed in the 1940s generally tried to come close to the three-runway configuration idealized by military bases built during World War II. The runways formed a triangle, assuring that aircraft could always take off and land into the wind or nearly so. Wadena's original airport came close to the...
In the early 1800s a Catholic Priest mistook a lake for a something else and named a place in Minnesota using the French word "detroit" (that means straight or channel). Soon a village had sprung up with that name and was a waypoint on the Red River Ox Cart Trail. Incorporated in 1881, Minnesota's Detroit became the seat of Becker County. Eventually the citizens got tired of their mail ending up in Michigan, organized a referendum in 1926 and corrected the "clerical" error by changing the...
Park Point is one cool place. It's the world's longest freshwater sand spit and separates the Duluth Harbor from the rest of Lake Superior. Since the lake's water is usually about 45 degrees, nature supplies the air conditioning. At the northwest end is the famous lift bridge and Canal Park, the Duluth entertainment and tourist district. On the southeast end is an 18-acre old growth red and white pine forest with a kind of spiritual ambiance. One of the City's most desirable residential areas...
More than 375,000 passengers pass through Rochester International Airport in a year, second in Minnesota only to MSP. Lots of those passengers are heading for the famous Mayo Clinic. American, Delta and United Airlines provide scheduled service. Spotting a wide body airliner with Arabic writing is not unusual. There's also a lot of General Aviation traffic. The airport averages over 50,000 annual control tower operations and is home to 65 aircraft. This is a busy place. Runway 13/31 is just...
"Say It Ain't So..." (Chicago Tribune headline after Shoeless Joe Jackson was indicted for fixing the World Series). Non-Directional Beacons (NDB) are being shut off. What will flight instructors use to torture their instrument students? How can an iconic system for air navigation just go away? It's not right! OK, so I'm a dinosaur. I cut my aviation teeth 50 years ago in the high Arctic and the "Non-Directional Beacon" was the approach aid of choice there. My brain still contains the necessary...
Start talking pavement technology and almost everyone else's eyes glaze over. Pavements are fascinating. Discussions about fine and coarse aggregates can go on for hours and of course a great topic is the never-ending debate over which is more cost effective, asphalt cement concrete or Portland cement concrete. Ok, for airport engineers that's interesting. But in the 21st century good pavement is necessary for a good airport. Economics dictate that most general aviation airports in Minnesota... Full story
Before Sinclair Lewis made it to the big time, he was an aviation writer. His first published book was "Hike and the Aeroplane." He wrote it in 1912 under the pseudonym of Tom Graham. Literary terminology of the day would call it a "pot boiler." It's about 16-year-old Gerald (Hike) Griffin who helps an inventor land a contract with the US Army for his amazing tetrahedral flying machine. "Fate is the Hunter" it's not. Only 1000 copies were printed, but if you come across one it could be worth... Full story
Less than seven years after the Wright Brothers first powered flights the air age came to Springfield, Mn. A pilot who called himself Captain Foster (it's true, you cannot make this stuff up) arrived in town to do demonstration flights in his "homemade" airplane. Foster must have made an impression because by the 1930s Springfield had become one of the first Minnesota Communities to own and operate a municipal airport. Originally the settlement was named "Burns" after two brothers who were... Full story
Charles Hallock was an author and publisher from New York City. He studied at Amherst and Yale, then edited the New Haven Register. Around the time of the American Civil War he owned the New York Journal of Commerce. So how is it that a town in the far northwest corner of Minnesota ends up being named after a literary type from the northeast? Mr. Hallock was into conservation. He was an avid outdoor person and naturalist who experimented in agricultural practices that also benefited wildlife.... Full story
Like to see stage shows and maybe play a little "blackjack?" How about staying in a nice hotel, having some good meals and getting away for a few days? You could get an airline ticket to Las Vegas then enjoy a 45-minute wait in the TSA line so you can take a seat without enough leg room. After that you get to stand in line again for a rental car and walk a couple miles to where it's parked. Later you can do it all over again to get home. A private jet with a limo at the other end would be nice... Full story
Warren is the seat of Marshall County and the home of the "Settlers Square Historical Museum." It's a great museum with all kinds of exhibits including a 1977 Ford LTD. The old Ford is beat up. It has a badly cracked windshield, a broken headlight and a bunch of dents in the hood. Once a patrol car for the Sheriff's department, it's an artifact from the best documented encounter between earthlings and extra-terrestrials. People come from all over to check it out, so visit Warren and join the... Full story
Brooten is an industrious place. The City's economic success would be great for many towns but is remarkable for a smaller community like Brooten. One of Brooten's more interesting products is wood baseball bats. In the 21st Century most baseball is played with metal bats, with the notable exception of the professional leagues. Traditionally the pros have used ash bats, but the ones made in Brooten are "freeze dried" maple. The list of professional ball players using the maple bats is getting lo... Full story
There must be a theme here. Piquadinaw is what the Ojibway called the area. That roughly translates as "it is hilly." European settlers saw the wisdom in that name and in 1910 Hill City was incorporated. That same year the first edition of the local newspaper said, "it would be a hard proposition to find a more ideal and sightly location for a town..." It might have been bragging and certainly wasn't great grammar, but it was all true. In the 21st century the area around Hill City is still... Full story
"Wells to go Dry" is a headline that could have happened. In 1913, seven years before the United States government enacted national prohibition, a local election prohibited consumption of alcoholic beverages in the City of Wells. People went thirsty until the 19th Amendment was repealed in 1933. That year, seven new licenses to sell beer were issued. By 1948 the City had decided to "join them" and opened a municipal liquor store. A 1988 headline could have read "Air Force bases Sabre Jet at Well... Full story
Perham Municipal Airport is located just northwest of the city between the old and new versions of US Highway 10. In the "good old days" there was a popular drive-in movie theater on the old highway next to the airport. A symbiotic relationship existed between the two. The "silver screen" provide an informal visual aid for the pilots, and the runway gave the local teenagers an alternate access to the movies. Apparently, the kids would turn off the lights on their vehicles and drive down the... Full story
Once upon a time pilots training for their instrument ratings regularly practiced approaches at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. It's true, that really happened. MSP had the only Instrument Landing System (ILS) facilities in the Twin Cities, so that's where instructors took their students. Until the 1970s there was even a flight school at MSP specializing in instrument training. Some of the approaches were the notorious "back course ILS" which use the localizer transmitter for the... Full story
