Pahute Mesa Airstrip is a 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 surfac ...

located northwest of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of Mercury, in Nye County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. The airport is owned by the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United State ...

History

Originally built in 1941 as an emergency landing strip for Army Air Corps fighters, the airstrip was expanded in 1968 to allow transport aircraft to bring test materials and supplies to projects at Areas 19 and 20. Permission to land must be obtained in advance from the US Department of Energy.US Department of Energy. Terrence R. Fehner, F. G. Gosling. ''Origins of the Nevada Test Site''. pp 21. (December 2000)

Facilities

Pahute Mesa Airstrip covers an area of which contains one

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 ...

paved

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, ...

designated 18/36 and measuring . The runway had numbers with both ends, but it is now marked with "X" on either end. A small ramp area allows planes and helicopters to park at the airstrip. Beside three small hangars, there are no other permanent structures at the airstrip.

References

External links

* Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Nevada Airports in Nevada Buildings and structures in Nye County, Nevada Transportation in Nye County, Nevada {{Nevada-airport-stub