Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
Sorted by date Results 576 - 600 of 706
During a special ceremony on May 6, 2015, at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee, Cirrus Aircraft Co-Founder and CEO Dale Klapmeier joined Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and announced the expansion of Cirrus Aircraft to Knoxville with the new Vision Center. This Cirrus Customer Experience Center will be the central location for all Cirrus Aircraft pilot, owner and customer activities. This will also include sales, delivery, training, maintenance, support, personalization, fixed base operations and more for all Cirrus airplanes...
Wipaire, Inc. is pleased to announce that the most powerful factory-new engine conversion for the Cessna 182 is now available for landplanes. The Boss 182 Lycoming IO-580 engine conversion boasts a 58 pound (26 kg) gross weight increase on wheels. Owners can opt to use their existing engine mount, or can upgrade to Wipaire’s heavy-duty engine mount (required for float installation as well as floatplane gross weight increases). “We’re excited to make the performance of the Boss 182 engine conversion available to owners of wheeled aircraft,” comm...
Schweiss Doors, a leading manufacturer and installer of liftstrap bifold doors, powerful one-piece hydraulic doors and unique designer doors, has built and opened a new state-of-the-art factory electrical facility. “Recent growth in the door market due to our innovative electrical door engineering concepts and our growing roster of door products made this expansion necessary,” says Mike Schweiss, owner of Schweiss Doors. “This new building, 20,000 square feet, offers assembly space for our engineering purposes. Additionally, the elect... Full story
Cirrus Aircraft on June 15, 2015 announced its latest significant milestone: the customer delivery of its 6,000th new airplane. The accomplishment comes just 16 years after the company delivered its first production aircraft and on the heels of a strong 2014 performance where the SR-series of aircraft maintained its position as the best-selling four/five-place aircraft in the world for the 12th year in a row. “Our customers, partners and employees are rightfully proud of this amazing accomplishment,” said Dale Klapmeier, Co-Founder and Chief Ex... Full story
If someone’s ever buried a hatchet in your head, you know what a migraine headache feels like. At least that’s what patients have told me. They can be devastating, incapacitating events. Unfortunately they are common. Over 30 million Americans experience at least one episode every year. That is estimated to account for over $13 billion in lost productivity annually. They can begin in either childhood or adulthood although it’s unusual for them to start after age 50. To make matters worse, certa...
Participants of the Minnesota Seaplane Pilots Association Safety Seminar at Madden's Resort on Gull Lake, May 15-17 arrived in an interesting variety of aircraft, each cozying up to the beach, or to the grass strip at the East Gull Lake airport. The agenda at the seminar included a wide variety of educational sessions, training in your own airplane, an exhibit area at Madden's Town Hall on the resort grounds, social hour, and gourmet food at every turn. Weather cooperated at just the right... Full story
In his career as a flight examiner based out of Maple Lake Airport, Bill Mavencamp Sr. has the record for giving more check rides than any other flight examiner in Minnesota. "The FAA doesn't have records, but the family has thick stacks of his paperwork dating back to the 70s," said Bill Mavencamp Jr. in an interview about his father who passed away in January this year. "The best we can estimate, is between 20,000 and 25,000 flight tests. That's a lot of time in the air." Born in 1927, Bill... Full story
"My start in aviation really began at the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, also know as the Air Zoo," said Alison Wynne of Hays Companies headquartered in Minneapolis. "Also, we didn't live too far from the airport. Aircraft flying over my house on final approach was a regular occurrence so at a very young age I knew I wanted to be a pilot." That desire manifested itself in Wynne's attending ACE Camp and volunteering at the Air Zoo. In high school, she took a course with credits towards... Full story
June 20 it is possible for you to drive back into the 1940s. Be in Granite Falls at the Lenzen-Roe Memorial Airport at noon. Available for your viewing pleasure will be over 40 WWII aircraft, ranging in size from a Stearman all the way up to a B-17. Rare fighters like the Japanese Zero, P-63 King Cobra, P-38, various WWII fighters and training aircraft, bombers, and related vehicles will be on the grounds as well. A ground battle re-enactment takes place at 1 p.m. complete with live pyro and... Full story
AirSpace Minnesota's Robert Gilruth Tribute Celebration at TFC Bank Stadium on April 23 featured guest speaker Robert Cabana, Director of the Kennedy Space Center. While the celebration honored Gilruth, the father of America's human space flight program, and many others who contributed to the region's innovation aviation legacy, the gathering also focused on supporting a new generation of learners. "There is no lack of enthusiasm for space exploration," said Cabana. St. Paul Mayor, Chris... Full story
In a seminar a few years ago, an FAA psychiatrist was describing the “typical” profile of a pilot. “He is independent, wears a big watch and used to be an Eagle Scout.” Over the years, I’ve found that this description holds true, especially for Part 121/135 pilots who fly for a living. They usually are a bunch of admirably straight arrows. They can be depended upon to keep their ducks in a line. However, as the ill-fated Germanwings Flight 9525 of March 24th demonstrated, there are occasiona... Full story
Thief River Falls, Minn. - Northland Community & Technical College has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program. The award provides nearly $200,000 to be utilized over three years. The project, entitled "Revolutionary Opportunities for Highly Educated Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technicians" will be under the direction of Northland Instructors, Jonathan Beck and Thomas Biller. The project will expand access and awareness about the rapidly emerging UAS industry through...
Four minutes in the Civil Aerospace Medical Institutes's (CAMI) Hypoxia Chamber made a huge impression on qualified participants of the Minnesota Pilots Association Great Minnesota Aviation Gathering. Rogers Shaw brought the portable chamber to the event as part of CAMI's Airman Education Program. "We're giving pilots some portable reduced oxygen environment training in this tent," said Shaw. "It's a great safe environment. There's no partial pressure changes with this because all we're doing... Full story
Conversing with Jim Behrens is a joy on multiple levels. His sense of humor, which pops up with impeccable timing, is evident from the onset of a discourse. This pleasant aspect of Behrens' communication skills is even more impressive when taking into consideration that sometimes the pertinent subject matter isn't actually amenable to laughter. However, no matter what struggles have been served on his life's plate, Behrens meets them with the demeanor of a gentleman. Having grown up on a... Full story
Triple congratulations to Aero Minnesota on their recent achievements. First, it has attained its diligently sought after 141 Flight School Status. Second, the CATS Testing Center at the Aitkin Aviation location is now up and running. Third, two new flight instructors have been hired due to Aero Minnesota's steady and continued growth. Joining the current, highly capable Aero Minnesota team are Lynn Michael Ray and Dave Roether. Lynn Michael Ray, a United States Air Force veteran, has over... Full story
Viking Air Limited, of Sidney, British Columbia, has added Wipaire’s Leesburg, Florida service center to its network of Viking Factory Endorsed Service Centers (FESC). The Leesburg service center joins Wipaire’s headquarters facility in South Saint Paul, Minnesota, as a Viking FESC. “Wipaire and Viking have had a longstanding relationship, working together to support the Twin Otter fleet, from the legacy de Havilland aircraft to the new Viking Series 400 Twin Otter,” stated Chuck Wiplinger, President and COO of Wipaire, Inc. “Receiv...
The president of the Minnesota Aviation Trades Association (MATA), Greg Reigel, recently spent time meeting with staff members from the offices of all of the Minnesota Congressional delegates to thank them for their support of general aviation and to seek additional support on critical issues that will impact general aviation, both nationally and in Minnesota. Representatives from the Minnesota Council of Airports and Minnesota Business Aviation Association joined Reigel. In each of his meetings, Reigel discussed the shortage of pilots and...
ONE Aviation Corporation has been formed to design, develop, and manufacture a family of aircraft, each of which will be a market leader in its category and class. ONE Aviation's core products include the Eclipse 550 twin-engine light jet and the Kestrel K350 single-engine turboprop. "We are excited to announce the formation of ONE Aviation. I feel privileged to lead this experienced team of aviation professionals as we increase production of the Eclipse Jet, further the development of the Kestrel turboprop, and build a suite of General...
It has been a while since we’ve talked about diabetes (January, 2011). Back last fall the FAA revised their rules on certification including acceptable medications and medication combinations. To back up a bit, you might remember that diabetes mellitus is a disorder of glucose metabolism. That’s doc talk for problems with your blood sugar. Your pancreas is an organ that looks a little bit like a fillet of sole. It’s between you liver and spleen in your abdomen. It secretes insulin. Insul...
With the passing of a man so generous, and so passionate about aviation as Edward Erickson, there is much that will be missed. At Ed's Celebration of Life, held in August¬¬ at Anoka Airport last year, wife, Barb Mack, and children, Kathy Pavelko, Susan Beeso, and Eric Erickson were much comforted by the abundance of stories shared by friends, family and aviation enthusiasts whose lives were so highly impacted by this inspirational leader. "Flying was his life," said Barb in a recent i... Full story
Sturgeon Lake resident Randy Cichy looks at Moose Lake Carlton County Airport (KMZH) with two different perspectives. One is through the eyes of a pilot. The other is the view of a grounds keeper. As a pilot, he appreciates the layout of the airport because of some very practical points. It's clean. It's open. It's easy to see. Unlike most pilots, if any of those aspects were to change, the pilot would have to look in the mirror if he wanted to complain about how the grounds are kept because he... Full story
As the saying goes, old habits are hard to break. Sim Flite Minnesota is all about easing out those old habits and firmly establishing new as painlessly as possible. Steve Thibault and Tom Schmelzer, both pilots as well as flight trainers, are co-owners of Sim Flite Minnesota, based in the RC Avionics building at Anoka County Airport in Blaine. Tom Schmelzer points out that Sim Flite Minnesota serves three basic groups of clientele: Pilots getting their instrument ratings, pilots maintaining cur... Full story
Over 50 participants gathered in the Sun Country Airlines Hangar in March to absorb as many of the tips as Emerald Coast Interview Consulting could offer in a three hour presentation. Stars of the North, the Minneapolis chapter of Women in Aviation hosted the event. Emerald Coast typically does an eight hour interview prep for clients. Stars of the North arranged a three hour information session to give members an idea of what may occur during a training period. "It was incredible! said Stars pr... Full story
Congratulations and Happy Birthday to Mitchell Lindsey who soloed in a Cessna 172 from Anoka County Airport on his 16th birthday. The next day, he got his driver's license. "It was scary at first," said Mitchell of his solo flight, "but after the first few minutes it was easier. It was a good time." Mitchell flies out of Anoka County-Blaine Airport. Flying is not a passing fancy for young Lindsey. He plans to continue in aviation, getting his private pilot's license and all the ratings so he... Full story
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) last month welcomed the news that rule-compliant Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) equipment is now on board 10,000 aircraft flying in the United States. The FAA made the announcement at today's Equip 2020 working group meeting that this important milestone was reached in late February. The Equip 2020 working group was established by FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker in October 2014 to encourage the adoption of ADS-B equipage and address challenges to equipage.... Full story
