Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
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Women in Aviation International A statement released by Women in Aviation International President, Peggy Chabrian addresses recent legislation in the areas of workforce and education regarding women in aviation. "I direct your attention to bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate by Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Susan Collins (R-ME) titled Promoting Women in the Aviation Workforce Act of 2017. According to a news release issued by Senator Duckworth's office, this legislation would: • E... Full story
Spring Grove resident Glenn Kinneberg taxis his 1947 Piper Cub PA-11, heading towards the runway of the Rushford Airport after a Fly-In this past summer. Kinneberg has flown the aircraft for over 70 years....
Spring Grove, Minnesota resident Glenn Kinneberg will be 91 in February. If weather permits, and if he can clear his packed schedule, there is a good chance he will take his 1947 PA-11 Piper Cub out for a celebratory spin. The flight will have another anniversary factor as the PA-11 is the same aircraft in which he received his private pilot license in February 1948...on skis. Having received his Master Pilot Award over 10 years ago, Kinneberg has over 70 years of flying in his log book. His mem... Full story
If you do a search on airport security you can learn all about what you can bring with you on a Delta flight but it is hard to find information on security for airports without passenger service. With the Super Bowl coming to Minnesota there will be additional security measures at the reliever airports making them more secure and pushing any threat out to the next ring of airports. It has been a long time since we talked about security at general aviation (GA) airports. After 911 there was discu... Full story
The Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame board invites Minnesota Flyer readers to join us for the 29th Annual Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, April 21, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bloomington. Six persons will be inducted. They are: Darrell E. Bolduc, aircraft engine specialist and seaplane pilot. Bolduc represents half of the first father-son inductee pair, as his father, Wilmer Bolduc was inducted in 2002; Roland J. "Ron" Fagen, aerobatic pilot, prominent ethanol... Full story
My Dad and I talked about flying ever since I can remember. He flew for John and Mary Jane Rice's Willmar Air Service doing flight instruction and crop spraying in overweight, underpowered Champs. I just barely remember him spraying and once landing in the field across the road. For years Willmar Air Service held a fly-in and pancake breakfast and my Dad would give rides in John's Mooneys. At one of these fly-ins when I was 13 I saw an airplane all made from wood. It was a Pietenpol and I... Full story
This isn't the first time I've flown the RV-10-but it is the one that counts! I don't count "flying" an aircraft unless I make a takeoff or landing in it-no "holding the wheel in cruise." Making a takeoff or landing lets you experience the aircraft over a wide range of speeds and configurations-different power loadings, and different glide speeds and angles. It gives a measure of aircraft feel-the effects of controls in handling crosswinds, for example. Owner Kirk Hiner and I had flown the... Full story
Another successful year for Tree of Hope! The weather was perfect, probably the best year ever, with sunny skies and warm weather. Santa flew in in his Piper Super Cub and was on hand to welcome the twenty plus pilots that flew into the Maple Lake Airport. Many others drove in from far and wide to deliver toys for Tree of Hope. At the collection site, volunteers worked to help sort toys, make sure they all had batteries, and bag them up for the hospitals according to each hospital's needs. Bags... Full story
Twas the Season to be Jolly, and Super Cub Santa was certainly that! "Santa's Elves did a super job decorating the super cub again this year!" said Randy Corfman, President of the MN Pilots Association, who happens to know Santa quite well. "Santa is very Pro-Aviation, and there is no better way to promote Aviation than through these children!"... Full story
In 2016 a Scholarship program established in to celebrate Academy College's 80th Anniversary. The scholarship provides $10,000 for one aviation degree-seeking student pursuing a professional pilot career in honor of Sherm Booen. Meet Erik Stitt Erik was born and raised just north of the twin cities. He graduated from St. Francis High School. Throughout his youth, he spent a lot of time with the Boy Scouts, eventually earning the highest rank as an Eagle Scout. Erik always had a strong interest... Full story
Ron Renner was attending Air Venture 2016 in Oshkosh with his grandson, who thought it would be so much fun to sit in an actual airplane cockpit. Later, back home in Glenwood, Minnesota, Ron thought how nice it would be to invite neighborhood kids to the airport and let them sit at the controls of some of the local airplanes. So, the invitation went out to both Starbuck and Alexandria area pilots to bring their planes to Glenwood Airport on July 30, 2017. This activity was the first of its kind... Full story
Aviation's golden age might have been the 1930s, but flying back then wasn't all that reliable. Equipment failures were common and many airlines used airplanes with only one motor. Emergency landing sites were needed. The economy wasn't exactly "golden" either. It was The Depression. People needed work! The US Government started a program to build airports for emergencies, which also created jobs. Willmar was on the proposed route from Minneapolis to points westward, making it an ideal... Full story
If you've looked out the window recently, you've probably noticed its winter in Minnesota. Thus, it's time to talk about how you can easily loose bits and pieces of your anatomy on the tarmac if you are not respectful of the cold. Not all of us have the luxury of a heated hangar. When we're flying cross-country in winter, it usually means doing some pre-flights on a windy, frigid stretch of concrete. That's an ideal set-up for freezing some part of you-Frostbite! The mildest form of Frost Bite... Full story
No, not clear icing; I mean "windshield caked over icing" while flying in VMC with 10 miles visibility and no detectable precipitation. We all love flying stories, so here's a winter flying story. On a December day with reported ceilings at 2,000 feet, overcast, visibility better than 10 miles and surface temperature about five degrees Fahrenheit, I set out on a routine auto-pilot test flight in a Cessna 206. On take-off I noticed the right side of the windshield spotting with what I thought... Full story
Check this column each month to see that dates have not been cancelled or changed. Send notices of events at least six weeks in advance of publication to the Minnesota Flyer, P.O. Box 750, Sandstone, MN, 55072-0750 or mnflyer@cpinternet.com or charlotte@mnflyer.com. Attention Pilots: Be sure to get a Flight Service briefing from (800) WX-Brief before every flight and check your destination airport status. February 10: Buffalo, MN, Buffalo Municipal Airport (KCFE). Chili Feed, 10 am to 2 pm. West Metro Aviation hangar. Live music from 11 am to... Full story
Richard Fairey began as a maker of flying model airplanes. By July 1915, Fairey Aviation Co. began construction of license built Short biplanes. From then on, Fairey was known for design and manufacture of aircraft mainly for the Royal Navy. Famous designs included the Fairey IIIF, the Flycatcher fighter, and the WWII Swordfish and Albacore torpedo bombers. The RN's first eight gun fighter was the Merlin powered two-seat Fairey Fulmar of 1940. Although large and slow, it did well in the... Full story
While we had a good year in 2017 flying in Minnesota, we have every hope that 2018 will be even better! New Year's resolutions are something I have not been a big fan of over the years, but maybe it can be turned into an "aviation bucket list" of sorts, making a list of things that we might want to do in 2018. One of the first thoughts I would offer is to become more involved in getting youngsters into aviation. This may be by committing to participate in every Young Eagles event that you can...
