You might not know this but North Dakota has 89 public-use airports. We have everything from big international airports in Fargo to regional airports like here in Devils Lake. It is possible that you, the reader, have not been to any of the North Dakota airports, let alone all 89. Who would visit all 89 of them? Devils Lake residents and pilots Rodger Haugen and Connie Hanson did such a thing.
The North Dakota Aeronautics Commission has a North Dakota Airport Passport Program in which pilots can take part. They get a stamp like a passport when they visit the airport. After completing the program, the participants get a bag, t-shirt, and bomber jacket.
Hanson recalled Haugen “nervously” asking her husband to join on this aerial adventure. “My husband graciously accepted to fly the airports with him.”
Haugen has been a pilot for over 40 years and flies a 1980 Piper Saratoga. Hanson has been flying for 52 years and flies a 1967 Cherokee 180. The two flew together switching between their respective planes.
Among the airports that stood out to them that were impressive were the new airport in Williston, Bowman Municipal Airport, and Tioga. Tioga’s airport had “marble floors, a meeting room, and a lounge,” Hanson said.
When flying, Haugen is in awe of “the vastness of North Dakota.” He added it “gives a whole new perspective. When you’re flying you’re taking in the scenery.”
For Hanson, it brings up memories of her life growing up on a farm. “I was raised on a farm so it’s fun for me to see the pasture land and the cattle trails going to the windmills. It’s still nice to have that openness.”
This endeavor will also stay very close to Hanson. Hanson’s father, Bill Grieve, who passed away at 92 in August 2022, got to join them on their way to Fargo. Grieve was also a pilot and would take Hanson in his 1946 Taylorcraft plane. “When we flew to Fargo, [Rodger] asked my dad if he would like to go with us.” The 3 of them got to touch down in 4 airports with Hanson fondly remembering it as “the highlight of his year.”
