Breakaway Airport, also known as Hank Sasser Airport, (

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

: 40XS) is a privately-owned, private use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

Cedar Park, Texas Cedar Park is a city and a major suburb of Austin in the state of Texas, approximately to the north-west of the center of Austin. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the city's population was 77,595. History Before the arrival of European settl ...

, United States. Located about 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Downtown Cedar Park, it covers 25 acres (10.1 ha) and has one

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, as ...

. It serves as the base for the fly-in community Breakaway Park.

History

Founding

In 1977,

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

veteran and amateur pilot Walter Yates purchased land for the purpose of establishing a fly-in community. This land would become Breakaway Park, a

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of the City of Cedar Park that featured a 3,000 foot (914.4 m) grass runway at its center. Initially, Breakaway would consist of the single unpaved runway and a handful of

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

s near its northern end, but would see continuous development that continues to the present day. The subdivision would be managed by Breakaway Park, Incorporated, of which Yates was the president until the company's dissolution on March 26, 2001.

Modern History

On January 1, 2008, Breakaway Park fell under the management of residents Donald Richie and Dennis Gale, operating as D&D Airport Holdings LLC.

Runway Resurfacing

Over the years 2014 and 2015, Breakaway's grass runway would be paved over with

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 a ...

, but its length and width would remain unchanged.

Name Change

In 2014, Breakaway Airport's name would be changed to Hank Sasser/Breakaway Airport in honor of amateur pilot John Henry "Hank" Sasser. He was a Cedar Park native that operated his personal aircraft out of Breakaway, and died in an

airplane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

Lago Vista, Texas Lago Vista, Texas ("Lake View" in English) is a lakeside community located on the northern shores of Lake Travis. The city is located within Travis County, Texas, United States, and is less than 20 miles from downtown Austin, Texas. Much of Lago ...

on August 23, 2014.

Facilities

Breakaway Airport offers

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

and oxygen services to residents of Breakaway Park. There are no

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

facilities on-site.

Runway and Hangars

Breakaway Airport has one runway. Hangars are located on either side of the runway, many of which are attached to private residences.

Statistics

As of December 2021, there are 23 aircraft based at Breakaway Airport.

References

Airports in Texas {{Texas-airport-stub