Stinson Municipal Airport is seven miles south of downtown

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

Bexar County, Texas Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio– New B ...

. The

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''

reliever airport A relief airport or reliever airport is an airport that is built or designated to provide relief or additional capacity to an area when the primary commercial airport(s) requires additional capacity, on a long-term or temporary basis. Reliever a ...

''.

History

Stinson Municipal Airport is the second oldest

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

airport in continuous operation in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

(after

College Park Airport College Park Airport is a public airport located in the City of College Park, in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It is the world's oldest continuously operated airport. The airport is located south of Paint Branch and Lake A ...

). Established in October 1915, when the Stinson family initially leased the land from the City of San Antonio. The Stinsons had been operating out of

Fort Sam Houston Fort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. "Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as "Fort Sam," it is named for the U.S. Senator from Texas, U.S. Represen ...

but had to relocate when the

1st Aero Squadron First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

took over the fort's air facilities to monitor the border. Emma Stinson leased 750 acres southeast of town, and

Edward Stinson Edward Anderson Stinson, Jr. (July 11, 1893 – January 26, 1932) was an American pilot and aircraft manufacturer. "Eddie" Stinson was the founder of Stinson Aircraft Company. At the time of his death in 1932 in an air crash, he was the world's ...

cleared the mesquite. The Stinson School of Flying was managed by Emma Stinson, and financed by

Katherine Stinson Katherine Stinson (February 14, 1891 – July 8, 1977) was an aviation pioneer who in 1912 became the fourth woman in the United States to earn the FAI pilot certificate. She set flying records for aerobatic maneuvers, distance, and endurance. ...

. Eddie worked as one of the mechanics, while

Marjorie Stinson Marjorie Claire Stinson (July 5, 1895 – April 15, 1975) was an American aviator, airmail pilot, pilot instructor, and stunt pilot. She trained at the Wright Flying School, and earned her Fédération Aéronautique Internationale license in 191 ...

was the

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

. The first class of five Canadians graduated in November 1915. By March 1916, the school had 24 students and four aircraft. Civilian flights were banned during WWI, and the airport became San Antonio's civil airport in 1918. The name was changed to Windburn Field in 1927, but then changed back to Stinson Field in 1936. The

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

built the terminal building between 1935 and 1936. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the airfield was used by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

as a training base. At the end of the war the airfield was returned over to the City of San Antonio for civil use. As the reliever for San Antonio International, the airport has an FBO, three flight schools, police and state aviation units, a part 135 operator, two aerial photography outfits, helicopter tour company and helicopter flight school, and numerous general aviation aircraft. It is also home to the

Texas Air Museum The Texas Air Museum currently has two locations: * Stinson Municipal Airport ( San Antonio) * City of Slaton/Larry T. Neal Memorial Airport Slaton Location Gallery File:Tirpitz Hardware.jpg, German Battleship Tirpitz hardware recovered from it ...

. The historic terminal was renovated in 2006-2008 and runway 9-27 re-opened on March 11, 2010 after being re-surfaced and extended to 5002 feet, allowing more private and business jet traffic. In August 2010 The Texas Wing of the Civil Air Patrol announced it will be moving its statewide headquarters to Stinson Municipal Airport. It was only in Stinson for several years before moving to its current location. In March 2017, funded by the

City of San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

and

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

, construction of a new control tower for the airport began as an attempt to make the airport more attractive to corporate travelers and to bring attention to the historic sites surrounding the airport. Construction of the new tower was completed and began its operation in 2019.

Facilities

The airport covers 360

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

s (146 ha) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of 577 feet (176 m). It has two

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

s: 9/27 is 5,000 by 100 feet (1,524 x 30 m) and 14/32 is 4,128 by 100 feet (1,258 x 30 m). In the year ending March 26, 2011 the airport had 157,044 aircraft operations, average 430 per day: 95%

and 5% military. 42 aircraft were then based at the airport: 76% single-engine, 12% multi-engine, and 12%

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.sanantonio.gov/SSF.aspx Airports in Texas Buildings and structures in San Antonio Transportation in San Antonio Transportation in Bexar County, Texas Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Texas

History

Facilities

See also

References

Further reading

External links