Looking for PIREPS, SGS: South St. Paul, MN

[nyoung]

Hi all.

Anyone from the board familiar with South St Paul airport? I have flown to the MSP area quite a few times, but usually end up at ANE, STP, or FCM. I have not been to SGS yet. I am headed up there tomorrow am bright and early...

Airnav has several positive pilot reviews (although there were several mentions of the airport being very self-service), lists them as having sub $3.00 100LL (SS), and they are close to my destination, so SGS seems like a great choice.

I tried calling the FBO, but was not able to reach anyone this afternoon, so I am a bit nervous about the potential lack of preheat for the return trip (no Tanis for me).

If anyone has comments that could help... I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Nathan

 

[gismo]

Hi all.

Anyone from the board familiar with South St Paul airport? I have flown to the MSP area quite a few times, but usually end up at ANE, STP, or FCM. I have not been to SGS yet. I am headed up there tomorrow am bright and early...

Airnav has several positive pilot reviews (although there were several mentions of the airport being very self-service), lists them as having sub $3.00 100LL (SS), and they are close to my destination, so SGS seems like a great choice.

I tried calling the FBO, but was not able to reach anyone this afternoon, so I am a bit nervous about the potential lack of preheat for the return trip (no Tanis for me).

If anyone has comments that could help... I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Nathan

It's a nice, well run little reliever that's not part of the MAC controlled airport system. There's a pretty good warbird contingent and a decent terminal. Unlike the bigger MSP relievers, I don't believe it's attended anywhere near 24/7 but there has usually been someone there in the daytime when I was there. Chris Gardner runs his Navion shop there as well. http://www.navion.com/

You might try calling him for more information about the FBO.

BTW SGS is tucked right up against the MSP Class B so you'd better pay close attention to where that is. You can easily end up inside the SUA if you fly a wide pattern to rwy 34 or if you climb too fast on departure.

Also FWIW, the SS fuel at the other relievers isn't much more expensive (e.g. $3.09 at FCM).

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I tried calling the FBO, but was not able to reach anyone this afternoon, so I am a bit nervous about the potential lack of preheat for the return trip (no Tanis for me).

Two words: Cowl plugs.

 

[nyoung]

Thanks for the feedback. I am enroute shortly and will post a reply with a PIREP when I get back this evening.

-Nathan

 

[nyoung]

Pirep follows... Landed at SGS at about 9am. Temperature was a lovely -5 deg F.

For a 4000ft runway, the airport occupies quite a large space. There are a number of large hangars there, which creates the feel of an industrial airpark (incidentally, Wipaire - the floatplane people are HQ'd here and also run full service mechanic shop). The runway, taxiways, and ramp are in good shape.

There is definitely an FBO there, which is managed by the City of South St Paul. The FBO looks to have been recently constructed, or perhaps renovated, as it is an attractive building with a large lobby area, dedicated offices for the FBO, and several conference rooms attached. One could conduct a business meeting here.

I was greeted by the airport manager, who is a nice guy, very friendly and helpful. He made sure that my plane was put in a heated hangar for the day.

Fuel was ~$2.90 a gallon, considerably cheaper than many other MSP area options (which along with proximity to my end destination was why i chose SGS for this trip).

They do not have a gas-fired preheater, but do have access to 120V for anis, or you can be put in a heated hangar for a fee (I believe $50 for overnight, but that might be negotiable).

I rented a car from Enterprise (about 2 miles West of the airport) and they dropped it off within 10 minutes of landing. I was able to return the car via the FBO.

In all, very happy with the airport, and would definitely go there again.