St. Paul Downtown Airport Holman Field | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Aerial photo of St. Paul Downtown Airport, with downtown St. Paul to the upper right, Mississippi River and MSP to the top left | |||||||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Metropolitan Airports Commission | ||||||||||||||||||
| Serves | St. Paul, Minnesota | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | St. Paul,Minnesota, USA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 705 ft / 215 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 44°56′04″N093°03′36″W / 44.93444°N 93.06000°W /44.93444; -93.06000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||||||
  STP Location of airport in Minnesota / United States Show map of Minnesota STP STP (the United States) Show map of the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Source:Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
St. Paul Downtown Airport (IATA:STP,ICAO:KSTP,FAALID:STP), also known asHolman Field, is anairport just across theMississippi River from downtownSaint Paul, Minnesota. It is one of severalreliever airports in theTwin Cities operated by theMetropolitan Airports Commission. The airport has threerunways and servesaircraft operated bycorporations in the local area, a flight training school and the Minnesota Army National Guard aviation unit, as well as transient general aviation aircraft.
The airport is home to an installation of theMinnesota Army National Guard. Two properties at the airport are listed on theNational Register of Historic Places: the 1939Holman Field Administration Building and the 1942Riverside Hangar.[2]
Holman Field was named forCharles W. "Speed" Holman (1898–1931), who was astunt pilot,barnstormer,wing walker,parachutist, airmail pilot, aviation record holder andairline pilot. Born inBloomington, he was the first pilot hired byNorthwest Airways in 1926. In 1928, Holman set a world record of 1,433 consecutive loops in an airplane in five hours over the St. Paul Airport. He died in an accident during an air show inOmaha in 1931 at the age of 32.[3]
DuringWorld War II,Northwest Airlines employed up to 5,000 people at the site, modifying newB-24 Liberator bombers, some of which received the highly classifiedH2X radar, which proved to be an invaluable tool in the European theater.[4]
The terminal was used as a backdrop for scenes in the 1972 filmSlaughterhouse-Five.[citation needed]
During the 1970s and early 1980s, commuter airlineLake State Airways offered scheduled airline service between the St. Paul Downtown Airport andMinneapolis–St. Paul International Airport inMinnesota. It cost US$5 for a one-way ticket between the two airports, and $10 round-trip.[5] Capitol Air flew MDW-STP with a Swearingen Metroliner for roughly a year starting in December 1993.
St. Paul Downtown Holman Field covers an area of 540acres (220 ha) which contains threeasphalt pavedrunways: 14/32 measuring 6,491 x 150 ft (1,978 x 46 m), 13/31 measuring 4,004 x 150 ft (1,220 x 46 m) and 9/27 measuring 3,642 x 100 ft (1,110 x 30 m).[1]
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2014, the airport had 66,475 aircraft operations, an average of 182 per day: 74%general aviation, 15% military and 11%air taxi. In January 2017, there were 68 aircraft based at this airport: 20 single-engine, 12 multi-engine, 18 jet, 7helicopter and 11 military.[1]
Based on annual reports and data released by theMetropolitan Airports Commission, aircraft operations declined 65.3% in the decade 2011-2020.
| Year | Aircraft operations | Percent Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 87,229[6] | N/A |
| 2012 | 79,238[7] |  9.16% |
| 2013 | 69,277[8] | 12.57% |
| 2014 | 64,539[9] | 6.83% |
| 2015 | 56,676[10] | 12.18% |
| 2016 | 54,548[11] | 3.75% |
| 2017 | 40,489[11] | 25.77% |
| 2018 | 40,116[12] | 0.92% |
| 2019 | 40,394[13] |  0.69% |
| 2020 | 30,188[13][14] | 25.26% |
| 2021 | 39,196[15] | 29.83% |
| 2022 | 41,592[16] | 6.11% |
| Airline | Services |
|---|---|
| NetJets | Charter |
| Executive Jet Management | Charter |
| Best Jets International | Charter/FBO |
| Delta Private Jets | Charter |
Recently, local debate has ensued over plans to build aflood wall around the airport. In 1993, 1997, and 2001, the airport was flooded due to its proximity to theMississippi River. Supporters do not want to deal with the future inconvenience of having to deal with the flood again, while critics say that the proposed wall would ruin views and make the airport "ugly".[17] Adike to protect the airport from the nearbyriver was considered since the National Guard stated that they may leave if the dike is not constructed in a timely manner.[citation needed]
In 2009, a removable flood wall was installed that is only erected when flooding is imminent, leaving the views of the river intact for the rest of the year. Steel plates are embedded in the concrete on the river side of the runways. The flood wall is composed of steel posts that anchor to the embedded plates and aluminum planks that are stacked between the posts to form a flood barrier. These are then removed and stored when the flood event has passed.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
He tragically died at an air show in Omaha in 1931
