Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960
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Mitch Oswoski is taking the cover photo from the passenger's seat of Chuck Cook's T-28 trojan. Cook is the pilot. In the sky are Steven Bohlin in the Marine T-34, Walt Fricke in the Air Force Blue Camo T-34, and Jim Skogen in the white T-34. The event is the Wings of the North AirExpo 2018 at Flying Cloud Airport....
Although recognized as a maker of helicopters today, Westland started in the 19th century as a manufacturer of farm equipment. During WWI, Ernest Petter produced engines and airplanes at Westland Farm, the doors opening on 3 April 1915, as Westland Aircraft Works. Post-war Westland designed and built the Wapiti and Wallace general purpose biplanes based on the wartime de Havilland DH 9A. Designed to RAF Specification A.39/34, by a team led by Arthur Davenport, the Lysander, named after the...
I just returned from six days of flying and aviation fun, having taken advantage of the chance to fly into New Holstein, Wisconsin, and camp with our friends at Supercub.org and to participate in the New Holstein Short Field Takeoff, Landing and Flour Drop exhibition. There were many there from Minnesota and literally from every corner of the United States. We endured days of rain, spending many hours under a pavilion, visiting and meeting new friends. It was quite amazing that we really...
The Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame has completed their selection process for 2019. The following persons will be inducted at a Spring, 2019 banquet: Brian Addis, FBO of Wings, Inc., seaplane pilot, and flight examiner; Lee Bradshaw, airline pilot, air show performer, who, after accident injuries, came back to re-earn virtually every pilot rating in the book before returning to the airlines; Leon Frank, WWII Navy carrier pilot, entrepreneur, and soldier of fortune, flying for the Nation of...
Booen was born in Glenville, Minnesota, and learned to fly at Albert Lea in the Civil Pilot Training Program (CPT) before World War II. In 1942, he was assigned to the Air Material Command at Dayton, Ohio, where he inspected and trained flight crews on the Honeywell autopilot system. In 1945, Booen began a radio and TV career. He created "World of Aviation," a program that aired on WCCO-CBS TV for 28 years. After receiving his Marine Corps commission, he went to Korea as an air traffic...
New to Wings of the North AirExpo for 2018 was Northland Community Technical College Aerospace's DRONE TECH program. UAS Instructor/Program Manager Jon Beck and Boy Scouts of Northern Star Council Activities/STEM Director, Ryan McDonald teamed up to offer attendees a hands-on experience flying drones. "When the opportunity to partner with Northland Aerospace, Wings of the North, and Pathfinder (a section of the Boy Scouts planning adventures, trips, service, and projects) to do a DRONE TECH...
Why would a pilot want to fly to all 135 of Minnesota's airports? Lots of reasons. Consider adding the "Fly Minnesota!" program to your list. After you land at 130 out of 135 airports and participate in museum and seminar activities, you will: • Receive a cap, flight bag, and leather jacket, all with a patch with the program logo. You will enjoy explaining what the logo means when you are asked. • When someone asks, "Have you been to the airport in..." you may interrupt and say, "YES!" • Patro...
Check this column each month to see that dates have not been cancelled or changed. Send notices six weeks in advance of publication to the Minnesota Flyer, P.O. Box 750, Sandstone, MN 55072-0750 or mnflyer@pinternet.com or charlotte@mnflyer.com. Sept 15: Mora, MN, Mora Municipal Airport (KJMR), Fly-In Breakfast 8 a.m.-12 p.m., hosted by the Lions Club. Contact Joe Kolhgraf 612-390-8217 Sept 16: Hector, MN, Hector Municipal Airport (1D6),76th annual all you can eat, fly-in breakfast PICs free 7:30 a.m – 12:30 p.m. Sponsored by Hector Lions a...
Thanks to Bob Heavirland for the following report and photos from the Isle Fly-In of July 7-8 Fly-In. Heavirland joined the Isle Flying Club three years ago. Isle Airport is a private grass strip maintained by its members. Current president, David Retka may be contacted at daveretka@gmail.com The Isle Fly-In was a great event with really nice weather. We had over 50 planes. A J3 Cub flew in from as far as Crystal. We also had a Cessna from Grand Rapids. There were five airplanes from Forest...
Thanks to Don Lilienthal for the following report and photos from the Starbuck Fly-In breakfast. The Starbuck Fly-In was held on Saturday, July 7. It was a windy day but no rain. We have a soft grass runway. The plane campers began to show up on Friday morning and stayed until Sunday. The Fly-In was very successful. We served 1,144 breakfasts. There were 65 planes that flew in for the breakfast. The Life-Link helicopter reported eight miles out inbound when they received an emergency call....
Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport was the only stop in Minnesota for the 2018 American Barnstormer's Tour. Area residents took full advantage of all the July 15-17 event had to offer including rides in the vintage aircraft, a lineup of Model T automobiles, music from the 1920's and 30's sung by Mankato Barbershop Quartet, Oh Brother, and 5-cent popcorn, a price from1929, made fresh on the spot. NorthPoint Aviation, the airport's FBO and Wing's Airport Cafe accommodated tour participants and...
A short time ago, historian, writer, 2010 Hall of Fame inductee, and Menahga, Minnesota resident, Noel Allard sent us the above image with the following comment: Interesting picture from a few days ago...DNR practicing water pickups for fighting grass and house fires, right out in front of our dock! Thank you Noel! We love when readers share photos!...
The Minnesota Flyer joins a host of other aviation centered organizations in congratulating the Civil Air Patrol on their 75th Anniversary. According to the CAP website, more than one million cadets have benefited from the Cadet Programs' leadership, character development, fitness and aerospace/STEM education curriculum. We have seen CAP cadet's in action at a multitude of aviation events through the years (like the one pictured above at Anoka County Blaine Airport) and state, without...
As we get a little older its par for the course to get a little stiff and have a few aches and pains. If you fall into that silver-hair category, try sitting in a GA cockpit for five hours and then spring onto the tarmac. Make sure there’s somebody there to catch you! Sometimes however, those aching joints can get out of hand. Swelling, redness, pain, warmth and loss of function in a joint mean you’ve got arthritis. Arthritis happens frequently and comes in many forms. The most common type is...
As student pilots, we all remember learning how to use a chart to determine the crosswind component of the wind, based on the wind velocity and the angle between the wind direction and the runway. That's great for a table-top exercise, but can be a little cumbersome when actually flying the airplane. (See Figure 1) Here's a quick and easy way to do it in your head, without the need to bring out your crosswind component chart. (Warning: there's a little bit of mental math involved, but nothing...
Interstate Highway 90 connects Boston to Seattle. It's the longest road in the United States. Like the first transcontinental railroad, I-90 was constructed from both ends toward the middle. When the railroad builders met in Utah in 1869, the last spike they drove was painted gold. The highway crews met in Blue Earth, Minnesota in 1978, commemorating the event by painting a "golden stripe" across the road. The stripe can be seen from the Blue Earth rest areas. Besides the historical...
