04/29/2025
April 24, 2025
Dear Isle Airport active and former members and supporters,
I am pleased to report the Isle Airport is in great shape and ready for the 2025 flying season! Our courtesy car is parked outside and available for use by current members beginning May 1st. We’ve finished maintaining / repairing the tractors, equipment and other assorted chores that need doing every season. Please fly in and enjoy the nostalgic feel of Isle Airport and visit our lovely Isle community.
We now have an online PayPal membership renewal link. Please use the following link to renew (click on the link or copy/paste into your browser):
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=YXVK8ETB2MY9J
Membership numbers are somewhat down and our goal is to increase these, showing the City of Isle how this airport is valued and used by many pilots. Dues remain $25/year and your membership support is greatly valued. Friends of Isle Airport is a 501(c)(3) organization and your donations are tax deductible. If you prefer to send a check, make it out to Friends of Isle Airport and send to:
Dave Retka
Treasurer - Friends of Isle Airport Inc
201 Ash Street East
South St. Paul, MN 55075
A brief history refresher: The airport opened for business as a “public airport” in 1956 on land that was donated to the city from the state, to be used only for an airport. The airport initially received state funds for maintenance, as all public airports do. The “public” status was lost in 1980 because of new state minimum runway length rules and tree interference and was “closed” for a short time but, to the cities’ dismay, was still being used by many pilots. Some of the local pilots organized and worked with the state and city to stay open as a “private airport.” The state was adamant – NO PUBLIC USE PERMITTED and required a list of members/pilots who would be using the airport, but in the end issued us the first “private airport” license in 1986. The city granted the pilots’ organization a lease to use, maintain and operate the airport so that the city wouldn’t need to provide any labor or funding. On the contrary, the lease arrangement with the airport organization, along with the individual leases held by all the hangar owners, provides significant direct revenue to the city. This was the start of our membership and dues drives that exist to this day. A few years ago, the state threatened to close the airport again because the aforementioned trees did not meet the requirements for even a private airport. This was a huge battle and one that I and many of you were very involved in, and we prevailed! This airport has seen many improvements through the years, but the city is still reluctant to embrace the long-standing idea of returning the airport to public status (enabling state funding). Our organization will continue to work this issue.
Having read this history, and especially if you’ve been inactive recent years, please re-consider the preceding paragraph regarding memberships. Whether you are a frequent, infrequent or perhaps never a user of Isle airport, keeping an airport open is in our best interest. Once an airport is lost, they rarely reappear.
2025 Raffle - 3 prizes! YAESU 750L Nav Com w/ GPS, PJ2 Flight Radio, and a 4 hour, Mille Lacs Fishing Launch for 4 people from McQuoid’s Inn. The drawing will be at the flight breakfast on July 13th and you do not need to be present to win. Tickets are the same price as the last three years: $10 each or a 5 pack for $40. Watch for them in the mail very soon. Thanks once again to Dick Moroney for organizing this raffle.
Finally, the annual flight breakfast is a fun event not only for the pilots, but the community as well. Local residents always express the joy they and their families feel when walking between the planes and remembering the days of long ago, and the excitement of seeing a small plane on a grass strip getting ready to take flight!! Please fly or drive in on Sunday July 13th (and hope for great weather) for our annual pancake flight breakfast. Fly-in camping for that weekend is also encouraged. Volunteers for this event are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for your past and future support of Isle Airport!
Happy flying
Dave Retka
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