Richard Fleming Field

South St. Paul Municipal Airport is busy! It's a reliever for

Minneapolis/St. Paul International and home to over 220

aircraft. A bunch of successful aviation businesses are

based there including Wipaire, the world's premier manufacturer

of aircraft floats who are also well known for aircraft

modifications and avionics. Another notable tenant is

the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) with a fleet of vintage

aircraft dating back to the second World War.

There's only one runway at South St. Paul and the pavement

had been there for 30-plus years. Keeping it in good condition

is a priority so in 2022 the pavement was completely

reconstructed. Since the airport would be closed, the work

had to be done on a tight schedule, 18 days to be exact.

First the old Asphalt Cement Concrete (or ACC) pavement

was reclaimed (ground up) and compacted to thicken the

base then replaced with new ACC. The CAF often flies their

aircraft in formation more colorfully described by the

French word, "echelon." Paving the runway in a continuous

pass was required to avoid "cold joints." That, combined

with the tight schedule, induced the contractor to borrow a

page from the fighter pilot's play book and put two paving

machines in echelon. The airplanes move at 5 miles a minute,

but the pavers need several hours to go that far so staying

in formation isn't as hard for them.

Pavement grooving was done to improve braking action

and all the lighting fixtures were replaced with new ones

using Light Emitting Diodes (LED). The existing metal storm

sewers were replaced with concrete pipes. Another part of

the project was reconfiguring the connector taxiways to

conform to current FAA design standards. It might not

seem like a complicated project, but it took some planning

to get done.

In 2018 the city began work on the ominous sounding

"Triggering Event Master Plan" or TEMP. Actually, the rather

innocuous reason for the TEMP was to justify the length and

width of the runway prior to reconstruction, develop taxiway

geometry, and evaluate phasing alternatives. To satisfy

the approving government agencies some 13 alternatives

were developed and analyzed, so maybe it wasn't so innocuous

after all. Unlike a full master plan, the TEMP does not

address future needs or development. That will be the subject

of a different study.

Most 4000-foot-long runways in Minnesota are 75 foot wide,

the associated taxiways 35 feet and the pavement designedfor small aircraft. Historical aircraft like those operated by

the CAF don't fit this mold thus justifying the 100-foot runway

and 50-foot taxiway widths found at South St. Paul, so

the recent project used those dimensions.

Established in 1942 as a Navy training base, the facility was

named for Richard E. Fleming. Fleming was a hero of battle

for Midway Island and a native of South St. Paul. He was

awarded the Medal of Honor, but was killed attacking the

Japanese fleet in his Vought Vindicator. Even with its historic

significance, South St. Paul's airport has had problems

maintaining its existence. It's very much an urban airport

with houses in the approaches and development encroaching

on all sides.

Established in 1942 as a Navy

training base, the facility was named

for Richard E. Fleming.

In the 1980s, things weren't looking too good at Fleming

Field. A phalanx of agencies from all levels of government,

backed by a lot of the neighbors, were clamoring for the airport

to be transformed into anything else. It took some hard

work and astute politics prevented that. Ironically the leader

of this endeavor was an employee of the Federal Aviation

Administration although his job was flight checking navigation

aids and instrument approach procedures. Clyde

Slyman persuaded the City Council to support the effort

and got five other cities and two counties to agree. As chairman

of the Airport Commission, he was instrumental in the

development of a Master Plan for the airport's future then

getting land use and height restriction zoning in place to

protect the local airspace.

Like Fleming, Slyman was a resident of South St. Paul and a

pilot in the United States Marine Corps. He also flew an aircraft

made by Vought. Fleming's "Vindicator" was obsolete

and only used in combat because nothing else was available.

The Corsair that Clyde Slyman flew was fast, powerful and

made famous by Gregory (aka Pappy) Boyington and his

"Black Sheep" squadron.

Fleming Field combines aviation history with 21st century

General Aviation. Based aircraft include modern business

airplanes, recreational machines and seldom seen antiques.

It's a unique place with a runway that is now good for

another 30 years.