NORTH DAKOTA AVIATION ASSOCIATION www.FLY-ND.com VOL. 32 • ISSUE 2 SPRING 2020 “When everything seems to be going against you, remember the plane takes off against the wind, not with it.” ~HENRY FORD IN THIS ISSUE intro to aviation NORTH DAKOTA AVIATION ASSOCIATION From the Editorial Committee www.www.FLFLY-NDY-ND.com.com The Editorial Board would like to welcome Nicolette Russell as the new editor of the FLY-ND Quarterly. With The official publication of the North Dakota Aviation Association training in marketing and work experience in aviation, we are confident our contributors, advertisers, and readers will enjoy FLY-ND Quarterly Editorial Committee Nicolette Russell, Editor ([email protected]) working with her. Congratulations and welcome, Nicolette! Elizabeth Bjerke, Chris Brown, Mike McHugh, Zach Peterson, Joshua Simmers If you have comments, advertising needs, individuals or businesses to add to the mailing list, or article ideas, please Send Address Changes To: [email protected] contact Nicolette at [email protected]. FLY-ND Quarterly, P.O. Box 5020, Bismarck, ND 58502-5020 Welcome to the spring issue of the FLY-ND Quarterly, The Quarterly is published four times a year (winter, spring, summer and fall). where tales of exciting changes and flying await you within Advertising Inquiries: [email protected] these pages. Perhaps it is because I am a pilot, I cannot help Advertising deadline is the 1st of the preceding month. but see an introduction to aviation as a theme for this issue. Whether it is regarding UAS operators, airport managers, or 2019-2020 BOARD MEMBERS BOARD 2019-2020 Larry Mueller – Board Member future army aviators, the simple things we do as an aviation Red River State Bank community encourage not just the future of our industry, NORTH DAKOTA Tanner Overland – Board Member AVIATION ASSOCIATION Overland Aviation but also introduce all the joy and fulfillment for those who Chad Symington – Board Member benefit from it. So many people in our communities lack an Darren Hall – Board Chair UND Aerospace Fargo Jet Center Jake Werner – Board Member introduction to aviation and that first flight, that first career Experimental Aircraft Association Jon Simmers – Past Chair fair, that first hands-on moment of looking to the sky, the Bismarck Aero Center ND Aeronautics Commission event that opens a future of the skies to them. So, as you make Kyle Wanner, Director Justin Weninger – Vice Chair Mike McHugh, Aviation Education Coordinator post-coronavirus plans, please take the opportunity to share American Bank Center NDAA Executive Director aviation with someone new. Don Larson – Treasurer Staiger Consulting Group Dakota Territory Air Museum [email protected] ~Joshua Simmers Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of authors alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of officers and members of NDAA, or FLY-ND Quarterly staff. If you’ve received more than one copy of this newsletter, please share it with a friend. Our team is ready to help you reach new heights FAA Diamond Award in Maintenance bismarckaero.com Garmin Factory Trained Technicians 701-223-4754 2 North Dakota Aviation Association Daren Hall, Chairman CHAIRMAN’S North Dakota Aviation Associaton [email protected] COMMENTS Time To Turn The Page to a New Chapter This past March during our annual business meeting, I know it’s been talked about for years that we have a vibrant we publicly and unanimously voted to change the name of aviation community across the state, but we are still challenged the North Dakota Aviation Council to the North Dakota with some dysfunction and confusion that has negatively Aviation Association (NDAA). We also changed the name of impacted our ability to share and celebrate our great story. the Upper Midwest Aviation Symposium (UMAS) to Now more than ever, we feel it is important to clean things up, FLY-ND Conference. have a collective voice throughout the state when it comes to In short, the name change will help in creating clarity legislative issues, provide more opportunities to connect and between the Association and the North Dakota Aeronautics serve, and to reach the next generation of aviators and help Commission – two North Dakota aviation organizations that them discover the opportunities found throughout aerospace. were commonly mistaken for each other. Moving forward, Behind the scenes, we are also working on numerous we are working to develop the NDAA brand to represent the projects, from website updates and a reorganization of how to organization and more efficiently run NDAA, to our new FLY-ND CAREER will help further EXPO that is planned for October 2020 at the Fargo Air our effort in Museum. Read more about that in Mike McHugh’s article on establishing who we NORTH DAKOTA page 8 and think about how you can engage and support the are and what we do. AVIATION ASSOCIATION efforts. NDAA Board Members: Welcome Justin Weninger and Tanner Overland.! Justin is an aircraft pilot and owner, based in Bismarck, and Tanner is from Williston and is very engaged in the aviation works at American Bank Center as a Business Banking Officer. community. He owns and operates Overland Aviation at XWA, He served on the site planning committee for the symposium while also running his own aerial photography business and in Bismarck last year. spraying for mosquitos. Lastly, I would like to thank Ron Lundquist and Andy Teibert for their service on the board over the past few years. Thank you! The Fly-ND Quarterly is proud to have hired an editor, who will be continuing to work with the editorial board. We wish to extend our gratitude to the following board members who have volunteered their time to bring you this publication: Dr. Elizabeth Bjerke Jim Lawler Gaye Neimiller Joshua Simmers Chris Brown Mike McHugh Zach Peterson Malinda Weninger FLY-ND.com • Quarterly 3 Kyle Wanner, Director DIRECTOR’S North Dakota Aeronautics Commission 701-328-9650 | [email protected] Chair We Will Weather This Storm If you had the opportunity to attend available. These losses are expected to be the Upper Midwest Aviation Symposium temporary, as the current demand for air in early March, you may have attended a travel has been significantly lowered due to session where I presented on the current COVID-19 mitigation efforts. In the near state of aviation in North Dakota. At that future, the airlines are expected to maintain time, I had been a firm believer that the a minimal service level to communities aviation industry in North Dakota was in an throughout the country due to the aid that incredibly strong position and at a historical they will receive from the CARES stimulus high point in multiple areas. I also provided package. information which showed that 2020 was All of North Dakota’s commercial and trending towards a record-breaking year in general aviation airports continue to remain statewide air service and air passenger levels. operational at this time and the freight of It’s amazing how drastically things can products via air transportation are ongoing change in just a couple of weeks. without disruption. Our incredible airport The COVID-19 virus that has now staff throughout the state continue to spread throughout the world is having an maintain and operate safe facilities for those unprecedented and significant impact on people who currently need to utilize the safest airports throughout our state and country. air transportation system in the world. Airport As of early April, airline passenger boardings staff and TSA personnel at our commercial throughout North Dakota and the rest of service airports are also being pro-active to the country are currently estimated to be sanitize surfaces throughout their airport at 5% of their normal passenger boarding multiple times a day, in efforts to maintain numbers. Commercial airports receive clean facilities and help to prevent further most of their operational revenue through spread of COVID-19. passenger facility charges from purchased Although these are currently difficult airline tickets, paid parking, and customer times, our airports are helping to ensure the facility charges from car rentals and other safe transportation of critical materials and on-site concessionaires. The dramatic drop personnel who need to travel. They are also “Although these in passengers has, in turn, created financial working hard to be in a position to help our are currently concerns for both airports and airlines who economy rebound, once the COVID-19 depend on passengers for revenue. The virus concerns have subsided. Due to the difficult times, CARES stimulus package that was recently strength that we previously had in North our AIRPORTS signed into law is expected to provide short Dakota’s aviation industry and the fact that term relief for airports and the aviation North Dakota’s airports have tackled so many are helping to industry and will help our community other significant issues over the years, I am ensure the SAFE leaders continue to work through this crisis. confident that together, we can work through A full breakdown of the aviation aid that these new issues and help our communities TRANSPORTATION was provided within the stimulus bill is come out of this situation stronger than of critical provided following this article. before. Airlines have reacted to this lower demand Throughout this challenging period, please materials and by temporarily grounding aircraft and know that myself and the entirety of the personnel who reducing the amounts of flights at airports North Dakota Aeronautics Commission team throughout the country. North Dakota’s are here to support you in any way that we need to travel...” airports have also been experiencing can. In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, reductions in flights and in the month of and stay optimistic that we are all strong April, the state has experienced an estimated enough to weather this storm – together.