1959-84 Norman Midboe Historical Collection
A very important part of our airport’s history is a man named Norman Midboe (1922-2015). Mr. Midboe started working for the Grand Forks Airport in 1941 at age 19, and became manager in 1961. He was at the helm until he retired 23 years later in 1984. His leadership brought many changes to the airport, most of which were written about in the local newspaper. Mr. Midboe was diligent about clipping those articles and keeping them organized in scrapbooks. In 2006, Airport Authority staff member Coleen Peterson was pleased to have had the chance to visit with him and listened to stories about many of his experiences as a pilot and as Grand Forks Airport's manager. We were thrilled that he lent us his airport history scrapbooks so we could have them scanned by the generous staff at the Ellwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections at UND's Chester Fritz Library. Mr. Midboe subsequently donated the scrapbooks to the library, who provided this link to their information regarding the Midboe Collection. Interestingly, the there is mention that the Collection includes a transcript of a speech by Midboe entitled "Airport History: Old Grand Forks International Airport", that was delivered at the Grand Forks Aviator's Pioneer Banquet on February 28, 1976. Curt Hanson, the current head of Special Collections, generously provided us with the transcript (click link above), saying the Midboe Collection is quite a treasure, and that UND's Aviation History class visits every year to look at it.
Norman Midboe: 1922-2015 - Read about his life here, and view a 2011 video of him talking about his start at the Grand Forks Airport by clicking here.
The links below open the scrapbook PDF files. We caution that these are very large files and take time to load.
The photos below were from the Midboe Collection and the descriptions were written by Mr. Midboe.
Flight Instructors - 1943: Flight instructors standing at attention on the aircraft apron side of terminal building on the old airport in July of 1943. All of the instructors shown were involved with the government sponsored War Training Service flight training program on the Grand Forks Municipal Airport during World War II. Lester Jolly, Director of the program, is at far left in the picture (Jolly took photos too - he has his own section in our History webpage) and Norman Midboe is the 5th person from the right to left in front row. The terminal building, now owned and operated by Brekke Travel Agency, was only two years old when this picture was taken.
Norman Midboe, a flight instructor for the War Training Service flight training program during World War II is seen here inside of the 140' x 100' aircraft storage hangar on the old airport where all of the WTS aircraft were stored and repaired. Norman was standing in front of a Cessna aircraft and during the period when he was instructing for the War Training Service he was also serving as a part time assistant airport manager serving under C. J. Amundson who was then manager of the airport.
Early Crop Dusters - 1945: In this photograph we have a view of M.B. Huggins and his pilots and mechanics along with the fleet of aircraft he ferried in from Timmonsville, South Carolina each summer to dust potatoes up and down the Red River Valley. This picture was taken from the second floor of airport terminal building looking north towards Highway No. 2 in 1945. At this time aerial crop dusting was still in its infancy in the Grand Forks area and there were no local operators until after World War II.
GF Airport with Northwest Airlines Martin 202 Aircraft - 1950: This is a view of the airport building complex during the spring flooding of 1950. It is to be noted that Northwest Airlines was operating into Grand Forks using twin engine Martin 202 aircraft, one of which is parked on the terminal building apron. The other aircraft is a Coast Guard C46 Commando which was in the process of unloading cargo relating to the flooding taking place in the Grand Forks area. It is to be noted that the light areas in the picture show where expansion of the terminal apron and taxiway took place to accommodate large aircraft and to have better facilities to accommodate all the aircraft flying thru Grand Forks to clear customs.
Grand Forks Airport Terminal - 1950 (Now Brekke Tours): This picture reveals a closeup view of the terminal building area in the fall of 1950 at which time Northwest Airlines had removed their twin engine Martin 202 aircraft from service and switched over to Douglas four engine DC-4 aircraft which were much heavier and caused more damage to our runways and taxiways. It is to be noted that part of the taxiway providing access to the terminal building had to be closed for awhile due to damage as can be noted in the picture. A new concrete access road was also constructed as can be viewed in the picture. (2019 update: note the horseshoe driveway at the top of the picture - it is now the driveway from 42nd Ave. N to the Speedway Restaurant. Just behind the Speedway is the back of the old terminal, now Brekke Tours.)
Martin 202 Aircraft: This picture reveals a closeup view of the Martin 202 type aircraft Northwest Airlines operated into Grand Forks for a short period of time. The passengers in the picture are just leaving the Grand Forks Airport terminal building in preparation for boarding the aircraft through the retractable rear stairway.
Lockheed Lodestar: This picture reveals a view of a Lockheed Lodestar aircraft owned by R.G. LeTourneau, Inc. which is parked in front of the terminal building on the Grand Forks Airport. Numerous small and large aircraft made use of the old airport facilities as at the time of this photography Grand Forks was the only Port of Entry for Canada in this area.
Aerial View of New Airport - 1963: This picture gives us a view of the entire new Grand Forks International Airport as it appeared in a high altitude view following it's completion in 1963. It had two runways consisting of a 5300 x 150 foot north-south air carrier runway and a 4200 x 100 foot east-west crosswind runway built for smaller aircraft. The bguildings consisted of a brick and masonry terminal building measuring 48' x 160' , a three stall airport equipment maintenance and electrical control building, two new aircraft storage hangars - one measuring 80' x 60' and one 120' x 80', and also one new large stall 8 place aircraft T-hangar. In addition, one 60' x 80' aircraft storage hangar and an eight stall 8 stall T-hangar were relocated from the old airport. One two stall equipment maintenance and storage building was constructed for Northwest Airlines and of course all of the necessary parking aprons, taxiways, vehicle parking are, access roads and utilities needed for operation of the airport. It is to be noted that there were no parallel taxiways so this placed a lot of stress on runways as they had to be used as taxiways also in order to gain access to the taxiways leading to the terminal building and other facilities on the airport.
New Terminal Near Completion - November 1963: This pictures shows a closeup view of the terminal area on the new Grand Forks International Airport with construction nearing completion on the paved runways, taxiways, aircraft parking aprons, auto parking lot and runways. The terminal building was still in construction stages and aircraft storage hangars had not yet been built as of November 8, 1963. Due to the rapid deterioration of the runways on the old airport, Northwest Airlines had to start using the facilities on the new airport on November 15, 1963 for their large four engine turbo-prop Lockheed Electra aircraft. They operated from a temporary trailer site as the terminal building did not become available until February 1, 1964 at which time the entire airport became operational for all aircraft.
Closeup of Terminal -1964: This picture shows a closeup of the terminal area on the new Grand Forks International Airport as it looked on August 22-23, 1964 when the airport was officially dedicated and an open house for the public made it possible for the general public to see what had been accomplished. It may be of interest to note that all of the other buildings were in place and the airport was open for public use on February 1, 1964.
Terminal - July 1967: In this picture we are getting a view of the airport terminal building, the vehicle parking lot, and a Northwest Airlines fanjet airliner parked on the air carrier apron in July of 1967. Prior to this time Northwest Airlines had been using Lockheed Electra turbo-prop airliners. In the fall months of 1966 the North-south air carrier runway was lengthened from 5300' to 6500' in order to accommodate the 727 Boeing fanjet airliners that North Central Airlines was planning to use within two years. NCA was still operating with twin-engine Douglas DC-3 and the twin turbo-prop Convair aircraft as of 1967. In addition, a VOR (Omnirange) navigational facility was installed by the Federal Aviation Administration in 1966 and the airport invested in a jet fueling facility for servicing jet aircraft.
FAA Flight Service Station - 1965: In this picture we are getting a view of the FAA Flight Service Station in the foreground which was completed at their expense in 1965. A Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 fanjet aircraft is parked on the air carrier apron and is all set for a flight to Minneapolis. They will be taking off on the North-South runway which was recently expanded to 6500 feet.
Moving the Round-Top -1968: In this picture we see a large 150' x 100' aircraft storage hangar being relocated from the old airport to the new airport on March 13, 1968. In this photo it is being moved across divided Highway No. 2 about a mile west of its original location. It was parked in an open field north of Highway No. 2 and while it was parked overnight a very strong wind developed which blew out the entire back of the structure. After some delay the moving process continued and the storage hangar was placed on its foundation on the new airport which had previously been completed.
Round-top Hangar - 1968: In this photo we see the 150' x 100' aircraft storage hangar sitting on its foundation on the new airport with the rear wall of the structure being rebuilt and which is to be covered with pre-painted metal paneling rather than the wood siding that was on it prior to the storm damage which blew out the entire rear wall. Laminated wood rafters hold up the roof on this storage hangar and at one time when it was first built in 1943 it had the largest open space laminated wood rafters of this type ever built. It is to be noted that in this photo, on the lower right you can see a F86 Saberjet airforce plane which was donated to the airport by the Grand Forks Air Force Base and placed on a pedestal for display on the airport. Also, North Central Airlines started to provide DC-9 fan-jet airline service on February 2, 1968.
Nixon visit -1970: Because of the use of more and more of the heavy fanjet aircraft used by Northwest Airlines and North Central Airlines and the lack of a parallel taxiway serving the 6500 ft. north-south air carrier runway a log of cracking started to develop in the concrete pavement and it reached the point where the airport could have lost all fanjet service so it became necessary in 1969 to plan for it and to construct an overlay on the 6500 ft. runway and to add an additional 850 feet to it. In addition, a parallel heavy duty taxiway was also planned for and constructed in 1970 with several turn-off taxiways to link runway with the new parallel taxiway. One short length of parallel taxiway west of the terminal was not done, however a new diagonal taxiway was constructed to connect terminal building apron with the intersection of the north-south and east-wast runways. As soon as this construction job was completed the airport returned to full time operation on October 18, 1970 and the following day President Nixon made a quick stop in Air Force I on his campaign trail to help out the Republican Party. He can be seen on the loading ramp waiving to the public in the photo shown here. The airport also purchased a portable control tower that was placed on its foundation on December 18, 1970.
Parking Expansion - 1971: This picture shows the expansion of the vehicle parking lot in November of 1971 doubling its capacity from 100 to 200 vehicles. Also shown in the picture is additional roadway and taxiway paving previously constructed for the benefit of the airlines, the Montgomery Airspray aircraft maintenance shop facility and the 150 ft. x 100 ft. aircraft storage hangar now leased to the University of North Dakota for its large flight program. Note the new metal roof on the UND storage hangar to the far left in this picture.
New Tower - 1973: This photograph shows the new airport traffic control tower completed in the late fall of 1973. It is three stories high and is located next to flight line between the terminal building and the FAA Flight Service Station. The old temporary control tower can be seen in the distance between the F86 display aircraft and the base of the tower.
Equipment Storage Building - 1974: This picture shows the large addition to the vehicle maintenance and electrical control building which was completed in June of 1974. The additional space was needed to accommodate three new pieces of fire/crash/rescue equipment needed to comply with FAA airport certification requirement.
Clay Piled to Prep for Car Rental Lot - 1974: Construction of a large addition to the terminal building got underway in July of 1974 and the clay excavated from the terminal site was piled up east of the Hertz Car Garage area shown in this picture in preparation for use of the area as a car parking area for rent-a-cars. In the foreground we see a portion of the FAA Flight Service Station.
Terminal Building Addition - 1974: In this photograph we are looking at the vehicle parking lot and driveway side showing the terminal expansion that was completed in 1974. The 24 foot addition to the southern portion of the terminal building provided space for a new restaurant and kitchen are while the former restaurant and kitchen space was converted to a gift shop and lounge. A 48 foot addition to the north end of the building was completed to improve baggage and customs facilities and to provide for a large holding area for departing passengers with provision for a later addition that could be constructed to provide for second level loading.
Architects Rendering of Terminal Expansion - 1974: In this architects picture of how the aircraft apron side of the expanded terminal would look we have a good view of the passenger holding area and the baggage area expansion. This entire project was completed in 1974.
City of Grand Forks Officials for Centennial - 1974: Photo of City of Grand Forks officials for 100 year Centennial - 1974. Back row: Lloyd Fairweather - Fire Cheif, Robert Lerude - City Auditor, Kenneth Larson - Auditorium Manager, Raymond Corbet - Supt. Streets & Sanitation, Norman Midboe- Airport Manager. Front row: Inger Onstad - City Treasure, Ray S. Niles - Director of Finance, Marvin Dean - Heath Department, Robert Simons - Director of Admin., Thomas Longmire - Personal Officer, and Frandk Orthmeyter - City Engineer.
New Parallel Taxiways - 1978: With the increasing number of general aviation aircraft being stored and flown on the Grand Forks International Airport it became necessary to expand the parking apron as shown in the photograph and to construct a light duty taxiway to provide access to the north-south parallel taxiway. In the photo you will see an aircraft outbound on this newly constructed taxiway. This construction was completed in June of 1978. Also in June of 1978 the remaining portion of the north-south parallel taxiway was paved making the taxiway 7350 gt. long or the same as the overall length of the north-south runway. During this time period work was also in progress on paving a light duty east-west parallel taxiway covering the distance from the east end of the east-west runway to the north-south parallel taxiway.
Apron Reconstruction and Expansion - 1982: In 1980 the City Engineering Department was directed to draw preliminary plans and specifications for reconstruction of air carrier apron which has been deteriorating more each year due to being understrength for modern day air carrier aircraft. This was planned as a temporary fix until a new terminal area could be constructed as per the long range development plan for the airport. Due to a mid-air collision between two UND aircraft, the FAA deemed that it was more important for us to construct a new general aviation runway because of the large volume of traffic on the airport generated by the UND Aviation Department. It was then determined that we should make more permanent improvements to the air carrier apron including expansion of the apron sufficiently to allow for the installation of loading bridges for covered access between terminal building and the air carrier aircraft. The apron reconstruction and expansion shown in the picture was completed during the 1982 construction season.
Second Level Loading Access and Jet Bridge - 1982: This photograph shows the completed construction of an addition to the holding area of terminal building to allow for second level loading and installation of a loading bridge in 1982 thus allowing for covered access between the terminal building and air carrier aircraft. Expansion of the air carrier apron made this possible. The paved east-west parallel taxiway is visible in this picture also.
New General Aviation Area on East Side - 1979: This photograph shows the 1979 development of the new general aviation area located east of the airport terminal building and east of the airport entrance road. The aircraft parking apron is light in color in the photo and provided a lot of additional parking area for UND aircraft and a place for construction of new facilities. The construction work consisted of site preparation, taxiway access, two aprons, service roads, vehicle parking, security fencing, lighting and installation of water and sewer. One of the newer UND buildings can be seen in the picture and one of the two aprons referred to above is hidden behind the large UND building shown in the picture. Although there is no picture to show the new north-south general aviation runway layout, site preparation for the runway and taxiway was completed in 1982 and the paving, lighting and marking was completed in 1983.
New Airport - 1964: The new airport terminal opened on February 1, 1964. This drawing was on the back of the Grand Opening program later that summer.
New Airport - 1964: The new airport terminal opened on February 1, 1964. This photo was on the cover of the Grand Opening program later that summer.
View of First Grand Forks Airport: This photo was submitted by Lynn Vreeland of Grand Forks. This airport was closed in 1964 and soon after, Interstate 29 was built in the approximate area of the runway (the runway is pictured in the extreme lower right of photo). The terminal building pictured here is now housed by Brekke Tours. Grand Forks's 42nd Street is the road going across the upper center of the picture.