Winsted Municipal Airport
Winsted Airport became the property of the city in 1962. With only four hangar owners at the time, it became the first municipal airport in McLeod County. Today, there are 42 hangar owners using air transportation for both business and recreation.
Maintenance and improvements needed to keep the airport a viable asset to the city and its hangar owners has been done through annual capital improvement projects, with the majority of the costs paid for through federal funding.
Each year projects are considered, along with future development of the airport. Recommendations and priorities of various upgrades are made by the airport commission, with final approval given by the Winsted City Council.
Discussions for 2011 projects began in early spring, with Winsted City Council and the airport commission deciding the fate of $131,484 in expiring federal funds, a process that had actually started in 2010.
The city also had an additional $450,000 in banked federal funds which could be used for current airport projects.
After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that the 2011 projects would include a new airport terminal and pavement rehabilitation for the entrance road, parking lot, aircraft apron and a 20-foot-wide taxi lane. The estimated price tag was $470,000, well within the total banked funding of $581,484.
The construction of a new airport terminal building (1,100 square feet) began late in 2011, and will replace the previous terminal (700 square feet) built in the 1980s.
The new terminal is to include two entry areas, one from the air side or apron area, and the other from the land side or parking lot.
There will be a common space which can be used as a conference room or meeting room, and men’s and women’s restrooms.
Also included in the project is a sidewalk, modified airport access point, manual access gate, fence replacement, and modified parking lot striping.
Flight school offered at airport
A flight school at the Winsted Airport has really taken off for its owner Darrin Mason, an FAA-certified flight instructor who offers pilot training through MasonAir.
According to Mason, flight training is up from last year when he was working out of another airport.
Business has been so good, Mason is looking for a larger hangar, another smaller aircraft, and possibly another instructor to help out.
The flight school offers instruction to become a private pilot or sport pilot, as well as training in tail wheel endorsement, flight review, instrument proficiency check, and instrument rating. It will also offer a ground-based flight simulator, and will offer air rides.
Mason has over 4,000 hours of flying time, with more than 1,700 hours of multi-engine, and more than 1,000 hours of multi-engine turbo prop time.
