This article was originally published in the Spring 2015 edition of Briefings
Eveleth–Virginia Municipal Airport is located near the northeastern Minnesota town of Eveleth, on the Mesabi Iron Range, Covering about 500 acres, the publicly owned airport is operated by the Eveleth–Virginia Airport Authority.
The airport began as an airstrip in the early 1940s, with Eveleth as the primary owner. After the nearby town of Virginia closed its airport in the late 1940s, it partnered with Evelth to form the Eveleth–Virginia Municipal Airport, which was dedicated in July 1952. The airport has two runways–Runway 9/27 (asphalt) and Runway 14/32 (turf).
Gary Ulman has been the airport manager for more than 15 years, first joining the airport as the assistant manager in 1996, then becoming the full-time manager in 2000. Ulman started working with the airport’s current fixed-based operator (FBO), Taconite Aviation, in May 1979.
Annual operations are estimated at around 12,000, Ulman says. Airport users include Bemidji Aviation, which contracts with UPS for freight hauling; Taconite Aviation, which provides aircraft for security operations during mine blasting; local pilots who use the airport for business and recreational purposes; Spectrum Health Services, which flies into the airport for meetings and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which uses the airport to refuel during animal surveys. Other contractors also use the airport for meetings and shuttling employees.
The Eveleth airport was in the national news in October 2002, when U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, along with seven others, died in a plane crash two miles away from the airport while attempting to execute an approach to Runway 27. Investigators for the NTSB determined the cause of pilot error.
Ulman says the best part of his job is flying, and the second-best is encouraging others to fly. During his time at the airport, he’s seen a number of changes, including the closure of runway 5/23 and then its conversion to a turf strip, the complete reconstruction of Runway 9/27, construction of a new terminal/hangar building, and the purchase of properties for clear zones.
Two hangars were destroyed by fire and then rebuilt. And the township road was finally vacated after years of property purchasing, allowing for the safe departure and approach to runway 14/32.
Over the years Ulman has also noticed fewer transient aircraft, fewer requests for charters, and fewer “airport bums” – people just hanging out at the airport, he says.
Although Ulman counts its pilots and full service FBO as the airport’s greatest assets, it does face some pressing needs for hangar space, ramp pavement rehabilitation, and storm-drain rehabilitation.
This past April, the airport received a Project of the Year award in the category of intermediate General Aviation from the Minnesota Council of Airports at the annual Minnesota Airports Conference for its rehabilitation of Runways 9/27 and 14/32 and relocation of Taxiways A, B, and C. Ulman explained that zoning and obstructions to the west side of the airport necessitated shifting the ends of runways 14.32 and 9/27. However, Runway 14/32 Zone A overlaid private property that contained homes. After years of meetings and an unsuccessful attempt to purchase property, the airport authority concluded that the solution was to shorten 14/32 and change it to turf. The FAA said that while it would not support the crosswind runway in this paved form, it would provide funding for a turf crosswind runway. Now Zone A for runway 14 is on airport property. Additionally, old runway 9/27 had a displaced threshold with a taxi lane up to the threshold in line with the runway centerline. The pavement was removed and the threshold was moved further to the east for obstructions (trees) on the approach to runway 9. Taxiway B was totally replaced in a different location; it now has a 90-degree entry from the ramp and a 90-degree entry from the ramp and a 90-degree entry from runway 9. A U-shaped taxiway on the north side at the approach end of runway 27 has replaced a run-up pad, and the old run-way was milled and relayed in place, graded, and rolled. The asphalt mix used taconite tailings/aggregate as the course materials. Finally, new runway lights, wiring, control power units, and PAPI lights were installed.
