Page 18 - Volume 16 Number 5

fflllllyyyyyyiiiiiinnnnnngggggDrive 12 hours north of Minneapolis and you just can’t drive any farther. You’ll come to Red Lake Airport in Ontario, Canada, near the terminus of Highway 105.If you want to go farther north, you’d better talk to Mike Misurka, founder, chief pilot, director of operations and co-owner of Superior Airways. Because his fleet of Pipers, Cessnas, a Baron and a Kodiak keep the people to the north of Red Lake connected to the rest of the world.Many are First Nations residents – the indigenous people who inhabit much of the remote Canadian north. While sparsely populated, the area beyond Red Lake16 • TWIN & TURBINEstill has commerce to conduct. There are workers to transport, freight to haul and human needs to be met.And that is why Superior and its growing cold-weather flock of general aviation airplanes exist. The economy of Red Lake, a community of about 4,500 people, is based on mining, forestry, transportation and tourism. It’s so remote that it’s still two and a half hours north of the nearest Wal-Mart and doesn’t have a shopping mall, a movie theater or a McDonald’s.Amenities are few and far between for Misurka and his employees, consisting of eight pilots, two maintenance mechanics and two apprentices, along with two groundBy Jim GregoryMAY 2012