Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
Sorted by date Results 1 - 11 of 11
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...
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...
"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...
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...
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...
One way to get to Grand Rapids might be to "follow the yellow brick road". Judy Garland was born there and became famous for portraying Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz". Her fully restored birth place is a museum that's opened to the public, and part of a city street is actually paved with yellow bricks. Scare Crow, Lion and Tin Man were good company for Dorothy and Toto, but flying to the Grand Rapids-Itasca County Airport would sure be an easier way to travel. Airport facilities include a...
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...
The Vintage Aircraft Association's "Round Engine Rodeo" in 2013 attracted a wide variety of beautiful and rare radial engined classics. Waco, Travel Air, Beech, Stinson, Stearman, Spartan, Grumman, de Havilland, Howard, Lockheed, Douglas - you name it, the great radial engined aircraft were represented. One unique biplane parked a little ways from Greg Herrick's Stinson trimotor that I was ground crew on, was the one of a kind Flaglor High Tow, a 220 hp Continental powered glider tug built by...
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...
With the advent of summer and all its beauty there is also the greatly increased potential for thunderstorms that produce tornadoes. It is vitally important that everyone knows of the potentials and has a plan ready in case tornadic activity begins at or near your location. To help you understand more about tornadoes, read the rest of this brief article. The information presented here was taken directly from the NOAA Severe Weather Safety Guide. You can obtain a free copy of the complete guide at: http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/resources/t...
port’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is and what it does for your airport, your community, and you? Although our construction season is well underway, planning for those projects began years ago as a CIP line item. A CIP is used to plan and program the projects that will preserve and develop Minnesota’s system of publicly-owned airports. Our system includes 135 publicly-funded airports around the State, 97 of which are eligible for Federal funding. Each airport’s CIP should summarize the N...
