Airport of the Month – Thief River Falls

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 identifier in code and voice. For example, dash, dot dot dot dash, dot dot dash dot translates to "Thief River Falls VOR."

Technique was a big part of using the key. Professionals could tell who they were "talking" to by the rhythm of the transmission.

For hobbyists it was a difficult skill to master, so in 1972 Thief River Falls native Ronald Stordahl, who was active in amateur radio, invented the "Digi-Keyer Kit" to improve Morse Code transmissions.

He founded a company to market the device, but even the "Hams" had moved on. The "Keyer" was a flop, but Stordahl had rapidly diversified as a distributor of all kinds of electronic components.

Today, "Digi-Key" is one of the largest and fastest growing such businesses with revenues in the billions. The company occupies over a million square feet in Stordahl's hometown and employ over 4,000 people.

A little earlier, Edgar Hetteen was inventing the snowmobile. His first manufacturing company was Polaris and his second was Arctic Cat.

Arctic Cat also makes All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) and sells the clothing that snowmobile and ATV riders are required to wear. Their 1,300-plus employees work companionably next door to Digi-Key. Thief River Falls has a total population of just 8,800 people and two companies employ half that number.

All this requires lots of air freight. Both companies ship packages across the globe, and Arctic Cat minimizes inventory by receiving components just in time to keep the production line open. United Parcel Service and Federal Express have direct flights from Thief River Falls to their hub

airports. Currently, two Canadair CRJ cargo jets are based at TVF. If you want to fly to TVF and think you'd rather not be packed in a box, there's also 12 passenger flights each week and you get a seat.

Other industries and businesses use TVF to ship freight. Some smaller carriers are also based at the airport. In short, it's a regional hub for

moving cargo. Estimated annual operations are 36,000 and about 4,000 of those are "freight dogs." Over one million packages depart from TVF every year.

Officially, there are 23 based aircraft at TVF, but the owner of the most and biggest airplanes does little flying so they don't count.

Northland Community and Technical College Aerospace program owns a fleet of more than 20 aircraft ranging in size from single engine trainers to a Boeing 727, but their purpose is to train students in Aviation Maintenance Technology.

Thief River Falls Regional Airport has a lot of the facilities needed to support all this activity. The main runway is 6,500 feet long and the secondary runway is 5,000 feet. There's a full system of taxiways and lots of aircraft parking. TVF VOR is on the field, an ILS with full approach lights is on Runway 31 and all four runways have GPS procedures.

To assure the airport continues to meet the customers' needs, the Thief River Falls Regional Airport Authority developed an airport Master Plan.

In FAA speak, "An airport master plan is a comprehensive study of an airport and usually describes the short-medium and long-term development plans to meet future aviation demand." (AC150-5070-6B, Airport Master Plans).

That particular advisory circular contains 152 pages of delightful reading, but if you have a short attention span here's the simple version.

A master planning effort looks at airport history, examines statistics of past activity, queries users about their intentions, and obtains input from the public. Forecasts of future activity are developed and the same crystal ball generates a list of things that need to be done. A careful inventory is made of the airport's existing facilities. Various alternatives are analyzed considering things like environmental impact and cost. The improvements chosen for development are memorialized on an Airport Layout Plan (ALP). Someplace around Page 10 of the advisory circular, the FAA recommends the planning process be "continuing" to "monitor key conditions and permit changes in plan recommendations as required."

Every aspect of the Thief River Falls Airport was thoroughly examined for its Master Plan. Because the cargo operation is so important to the local economy, many of the recommendations center there. Currently the airport has a single multi-purpose building that combines hangar space and storage for snow removal equipment.

The hangar portion has been enlisted to support the cargo operations. Both the size and number of aircraft operating at TVF has increased, so the primary recommendation of the plan is construction of a new hangar and apron area dedicated to the freight carriers. Initial construction will be a double bay unit large enough for two jets. A 50% expansion in the future is possible.

Thief River Falls was one of many Minnesota airports served by airlines flying propeller-driven aircraft which were replaced in the 1970s by DC-9s, so Runway 13/31 was designed to for that type.

Now the airline service uses regional jets like the Dornier 328 or the Embraer 145. The CRJ-200 cargo hauler is a derivative of a competing design. Although somewhat smaller than the old Douglas, the newer jets require more runway length, so that's a short-term recommendation. Another primary need is a new lighting system for the main runway and taxiway which will be funded 100% with federal money. If you're not a package or an eager airline passenger, TFV is also GA friendly.

Both 100LL and jet fuel are for sale. The airport has a full service FBO. There's rental cars and taxis are available for ground transportation.

Both Digi-Key and Artic Cat both offer tours if you want to explore an economic success story.