Stanton Airfield

Last week, during a motorcycle ride near Stockholm Wisconsin,  I met Jim, a fellow motorcycling gentleman, at one of the waysides along the shores of Lake Pepin.  During our pleasant 30 minute chat, he told me about the Stanton Airfield in Goodhue County where he had volunteered and taught flying lessons for many years.  It sounded like a very interesting place, so I made a note to visit during a future ride. Saturday, I made the visit, meeting several very friendly and informative people who made the visit to this historic airfield well worth the ride.

Stanton Airfield is located on 158 acres near the intersection of MN highways 56 and 19 just west of Cannon Falls.  It has two runways made entirely of turf and has been in operation since 1942 when it was used to train pilots for WWII.  Since then, it has served many roles, including flight instruction, skydiving, crop dusting, and even a golf driving range along the taxiway.  Nowadays, it is used as a base for a few Civil Air Patrol planes as well as home for the Minnesota Soaring Club, a group of people who fly gliders.  You can find small aircraft flight instruction here, and take glider rides.

Inside the main building, there is a small museum which shows a neat collection of memorabilia and information about the airfield and it's history.

Old flight log books

Here is a 1977 Piper PA-18-150 (AKA "Super Cub") owned by the Minnesota Soaring Club.  Today it was piloted by Nick, who towed several gliders into the sky.  Nick is also a motorcycle enthusiast who owns (and rides) quite a large collection of old British motorcycles.  I envy Nick for his being able to experience the thrill and freedom one must get from flying! (And his collection of bikes too!)

The cockpit of the Super Cub.  There really isn't much room in these things, and really no creature comforts. 

My tour guide for the afternoon, Ron, and the primary owner of the air field, Marilyn, who enlisted me to help them push a single-seat "Junior" glider off of the field and into a hangar due to there being so much wind today. These things are very light, around 500 pounds, so they're very easy to push around, by both people and the wind.

After I helped Ron and Marilyn push this Junior glider into the hangar, my reward was to be able to sit inside of the cramped cockpit.  I could only imagine the feeling one must get from soaring through the sky, almost silently, with a spectacular view through the canopy of the ground below and sky above.  There's a lot more to flying a glider than I would have guessed.  One must really know and understand things like how to read "thermals" (rising warm air that provides lift) and "sinks" (cooler air moving downward that causes the opposite of lift).  Without that knowledge, you could be in for a very short ride, or worse.

I found my visit to Stanton Airfield to be fascinating!  To Ron, Marilyn, and Nick, thank you so much for being so friendly to this unscheduled, drop-in visitor, and for providing such a great tour and information about your hobby! 

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