On a warm morning in July 2026, heavy dew was sparkling on the lush, 70-year-old emerald green runway adorning the forested southeastern shore of Mille Lacs Lake in Isle, Minnesota. Normally, only members of the Isle Airport Association and their guests may operate from this city-owned, private-use airport. But at least once a year, in mid-July, the airport is open to pilots and visitors from near and far.
The event is a fundraiser for the airport, which is a survivor despite seemingly overwhelming odds. Its staunch proponents have succeeded in vanquishing the ominous clouds of closure more than once, thanks to dedicated efforts to care for the only airport to grace the shores of Mille Lacs Lake. The 207-square-mile lake is Minnesota’s second largest inland lake and surrounded by a scenic byway.
Isle Airport (MY72) opened in July 1956 as a public-use airport. The Isle Flying Club was established 11 years later to handle airport operations. By the early 1980s, trees at the south end of the runway had grown tall enough to become an obstacle. That issue, combined with runway length regulations, effectively stripped the airport of its public-use status. The Isle Flying Club enabled the airport to stay open by obtaining a private-use license. The trees, however, continued to grow and it seemed the airport would be closed permanently.
Then in 2020, the Minnesota Pilots Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF), and the Isle Airport Association (IAA) circled their proverbial wagons to protect the airport. Their combined efforts, along with a $14,000 grant from the RAF, facilitated tree removal, which kept the airport open. Deeply appreciative of the grant, the Isle Airport Association gave permission to RAF members to use the airport that they helped preserve.
Breakfast at Isle
At this year’s annual gathering, a humming hive of aviators in their flying machines arrived at this storied airport to enjoy a bit of camaraderie and a delicious breakfast. Drive-in folks were heartily welcomed as well.
A cheerful cadre of volunteers braved the heat to cook and serve pancakes, sausage links, and scrambled eggs.
Visitors included youngsters with sippy cups, who stopped in their tracks when seeing aircraft taxi by and eagerly shouted out “Airplane!”
Dick Moroney, 95, displayed just as much enthusiasm while greeting visitors and selling raffle tickets for handheld radios and a fishing launch. Proceeds were designated for the runway maintenance fund. Dick also shared some of his own aviation history, including piloting balloons. He helps with the upkeep of the airport by mowing around the hangars.
Dave Retka, current treasurer and past president of IAA, helped coordinate ticket sales for airplane rides and breakfast — again, with the proceeds benefitting Isle Airport. IAA membership currently numbers around 200.
Dave is a passionate supporter of grassroots aviation and bases his Taylorcraft and Tailwind W-8 at Isle. He’s flown his Tailwind to points far away from Isle’s idyllic setting, including Texas and Florida.
National STOL competitor Micah Lindstrom arrived in his eye-catching Badlands Vaquero (a STOL racer), which he just finished building a few months ago. Another STOL-capable airplane on the field was Jeff Pohl’s 1955 Cessna 170B sporting vortex generators and tundra-type tires.
Jeff Mullin arrived in his unique Pegazair. He built the airplane with a specific, sentimental mission in mind and fabricated numerous airframe components with tools he designed and built himself.
As a youth, he was intrigued by his grandpa’s stories about helping build the CANOL Road. That 400-mile road was part of the Canadian oil project during World War II and facilitated oil pipeline construction from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, to Whitehorse, Yukon. His first flight in the Pegazair was in 2022. In 2025, Jeff attained his longtime dream of tracing the CANOL route in his own backcountry-capable airplane.
Living Legacy
As described in its brochure, “Isle Airport is a nostalgic grass airfield, reminiscent of an era gone by. It is also the only functioning airport on the shores of Mille Lacs Lake. The goal of the Friends of Isle Airport (previously named Isle Flying Club) is to see this airfield remain alive and thrive into the future.”
Annual membership dues for the Friends of Isle Airport are $25 a person.
For more information about Isle Airport, visit the Friends of Isle Airport on Facebook.
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