Crystal Airport is a public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

named after the city of

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Most of the airport is in the city of Crystal. Portions north of taxiway C (62nd Avenue) are in Brooklyn Park, and the north east corner of the airport is in Brooklyn Center. It is northwest of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

and is owned by the

Metropolitan Airports Commission The Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) is a state-level airport authority that operates the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport and six reliever airports in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Twin Cities region, whic ...

. The airport covers an area of approximately 430 acres. It opened in 1946 as a privately owned, public use airport. In 1948 the

purchased the airport. The Crystal Airport became the second airport acquired by MAC. Extensive construction actives began in 1950. Additional land purchases were made in 1951 and 1954. The additional 34 acres of land was purchased for runway expansion and noise relief.

Facilities and aircraft

Crystal Airport covers an area of which contains three

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

s: * Runway 14/32: , surface:

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

* Runway 6L/24R: , surface: asphalt * Runway 6R/24L: , surface:

turf Sod is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. Turf consists of a variable thickness of a soil medium that supports a community of turfgrasses. In British and Australian English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', ...

Formerly, there was an identical asphalt 14/32 runway, resulting in an R/L configuration. However, that runway was converted into a taxiway. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2014, the airport had 42,351 aircraft operations, an average of 116 per day: 1% air taxi and 99% general aviation. In January 2017, there were 177 aircraft based at this airport: 159 single-engine, 11 multi-engine and 7 helicopter. The airport has a viewing area open from 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM from May 1 until the first snowfall. It is free to the public, has a picnic shelter, and offers unobstructed views of the airfield and air traffic control tower. The airport has a full-service FBO offering flight training, charters, air-taxi, scenic flights, indoor and outdoor aircraft parking, rental cars, aviation fuel, pilot shop, and aircraft service. Wentworth Aircraft, an aircraft salvage businesses, is located at the Crystal Airport in the former Crystal Shamrock facilities. The oldest active business at Crystal is Maxwell Aircraft Service, also known as "The Prop Shop". It was founded by Ken Maxwell at the now closed Northport Airport in 1946, moved to the Crystal Airport in 1951. Several flying clubs are based at the airport including Club Cherokee, Gopher Flying Club, and Yankee Flying Club. Wiley Properties started in 1954 owns and rents approximately 100 hangars at the airport. There are approximately 250 total hangars at the airport.

History

The Robbinsdale Airport located in Robbinsdale, MN hosted an airfield from the early 1920s. It was located near the intersection of West Broadway and 49th Avenue N. It closed before the Crystal Airport opened. The current Crystal Airport is located one mile northeast of the original airfield. The airport site was acquired by the Metropolitan Airports Commission in 1948. Hinck Flying Service, founded by Clarence Hinck, moved to the Crystal Airport from Minneapolis Wold–Chamberlain Field. The company was a

Republic Seabee A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...

distributor and dealership. The company took initial delivery of 27 aircraft from August 1946 through June 1947. The FBO Crystal Skyways was established in 1947. This was an Aero Commander dealership. The business was closed by 2004. By 1950 Clark's Flying Service was located at the Crystal Airport. The business was known as Lysdale Flying Service before being purchased by Carlos A. Clark. In 1952 the airport had a 2500-foot by 75-foot paved northwest–southeast runway, a parallel turf runway, and two crosswind northeast–southwest turf runways. In 1961 the primary runway was expanded to its current length and the crosswind runway was paved. Bolduc Aviation Specialized Services was started after World War II by Wilmer Eugene Bolduc at the then-new Crystal Airport. The business was sold to Darrell Bolduc in 1978. The company moved to

Anoka County–Blaine Airport Anoka County–Blaine Airport , also known as Janes Field, is a public use airport in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. Owned by Metropolitan Airports Commission, it is 10 nautical miles (19 km) north of the central business dist ...

in 1983. Lakeland Skyways was founded by Niels Sorensen just after World War II at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International airport. The business moved to the Crystal Airport in 1952. The FBO was a

Piper Aircraft Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th cent ...

dealership. Sorensen sold the business in 1977. Lakeland Skyways facility was sold in 1975 to Thunderbird Aviation. By 1954, Ford Aviation was established at the Crystal Airport and was a Mooney Aircraft sales and service center. The business closed sometime after 1986. In 1957 approximately 200 aircraft were based at the airport. 44 buildings had been built at this time. The Crystal Airport was the busiest secondary air field in the five state area. Flying Scotchman started by Roy and Karol Arneson as a flying club and became a FBO in 1959. The FBO was a Cessna Pilot Center. It operated for 53 years before closing on February 1, 2011. Crystal Shamrock was founded in 1959. The FBO was a

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...

pilot center and dealership. Starting in 1972 they began operating DC-3s for charter flights as Crystal Shamrock Airlines. In 1980 the airline transported

Herb Brooks Herbert Paul Brooks (August 5, 1937 – August 11, 2003) was an American ice hockey player and coach (ice hockey), coach. His most notable achievement came in Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics, 1980 as head coach of the gold medal-winning Un ...

and the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team to

Warroad, Minnesota Warroad is a city in Roseau County, Minnesota, United States, at the southwest corner of Lake of the Woods, south of Canada. The population was 1,781 at the 2010 census. Warroad had its own newspaper before it was incorporated in 1901. Minne ...

, to play the local high school team. The company painted three of its hangars yellow with green clover leaves due to restrictions on billboard signs near the airport. The business filed for bankruptcy on April 29, 2007. An auction was held on Saturday, October 27, 2007, to sell off the remaining assets. Wentworth Aircraft acquired the former Crystal Shamrock buildings. On May 23, 1972, winds measuring 73 miles per hour damaged several hangars. A Cessna 172 was destroyed when the hangar roof collapsed on it. By 1975 Thunderbird Aviation had started operations at the Crystal Airport. Helicopter Flight, Inc. was founded in 1989. The company acquired FAA certification for Part 135 Charter operations and was an FAA-approved Part 141 Flight School. The company was a dealership for

Robinson Helicopter Company The Robinson Helicopter Company, based at Zamperini Field in Torrance, California, is an American helicopter manufacturer. , Robinson produces three models: the two-seat R22, the four-seat R44, both of which use Lycoming piston engines, and ...

. The company was located on the west side of the airport in the former Pro Air maintenance hangar. By 2004 the company was no longer in business. Operations at the Crystal Airport in 1992 numbered 179,456. About 325 aircraft were based at Crystal in 1992. In 1999 operations numbered 178,342. In 2003, EAA Chapter 1330 was formed and held its meetings at the airport on the second Wednesday of the month. This chapter no longer exists. On Sunday April 27, 2008, a fire destroyed a 13 unit hangar when a spark from a truck that backfired ignited the internal wood hangar structure. Two aircraft were completely destroyed and two others were damaged. Several aircraft normally stored in this hangar were not in it at the time of the fire. This hangar was not rebuilt. On June 27, 2013, high winds with peak gusts of 69 miles per hour partially destroyed one of the iconic Crystal Shamrock hangars on the west side of the airport. This hangar was eventually demolished. In the US Federal Government fiscal year 2013, an FAA Airport Improvement Program grant of $299,942 was award to install airfield guidance signs and to rehabilitate a taxiway. In 2014 an FAA AIP grant of $477,712 was awarded for taxiway rehabilitation. On July 29, 2019, an FAA AIP grant of $308,853 was announced to reconstruct taxiways B, and C. On April 30, 2020, an FAA Airport Improvement Program Grant of $4,111,111 was awarded to rehabilitate taxiways at the airport. In 2020 the airport received a $69,000

CARES Act The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2trillion Stimulus (economics), economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March ...

award. Other former

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down, and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction ...

s (FBO) located at the Crystal Airport include Condor Aviation, Northland Aircraft Services,AOPA Airports 2007 and Pro Air.AOPA Airports 2000 In 1957, other businesses based at the airport included Fli-Lite Corporation, which made aircraft skis; and Twin Cities Parachute Company.

Transit

Crystal Airport is served by MetroTransit Routes 721, 716, and 767. If the METRO Blue Line light rail extension is built, it will have a stop near the Crystal Airport linking

downtown Minneapolis Central is a defined community in Minneapolis that consists of six smaller official neighborhoods around the downtown and central business core. It also includes the many old flour mills, the Mill District, and other historical and industri ...

Target Field Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. It is named for Tar ...

U.S. Bank Stadium U.S. Bank Stadium is an enclosed stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Built on the former site of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the indoor stadium opened in 2016 and is the home of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Footbal ...

, the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and the

Mall of America Mall of America (MoA) is a large shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota. Located within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the mall lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north ...

to the Crystal Airport with a single seat light rail trip.

Events

Crystal Airport hosts an open house every year on Father's Day weekend. Events include a free hangar dance with a live band, fireworks, food concessions, airplane rides, helicopter rides, pancake breakfast, craft / vendor fair, and displays including law enforcement, ambulance, and public works. The first CrySTOL demonstration event was held on September 14, 2019. STOL stands for Short Take Off and Landing.

Gallery

File:Crystal Airport Control Tower.jpg, A Piper J3C-65 Cub taxis by the control tower during the 2007 Crystal Airport Open House and Fly-In File:MIC-Shamrock.jpg, Crystal Shamrock, Inc, a former FBO File:Crystal Shamrock Hangar Damaged.jpg, Storm damaged hangar at the Crystal Airport File:Blimp Parking.jpg, Blimps moored at the Minneapolis Crystal Airport File:Crystal Tower Aerial View.jpg, An aerial view of the Minneapolis Crystal Airport Control Tower

References

Flying clubs

Club Cherokee Flying Club

Gopher Flying Club

Wally's Flyers

Yankee Flying Club

External links

Metropolitan Airports Commission - Crystal
* *
Crystal Airport Community Group

Thunderbird Aviation

Wentworth Aircraft, Inc

Civil Air Patrol - North Hennepin Squadron

Maxwell Aircraft Services
{{coord, 45, 03, 43, N, 093, 21, 14, W, type:airport_region:US, display=title Airports in Minnesota Transportation buildings and structures in Hennepin County, Minnesota Airports established in 1946 1946 establishments in Minnesota