Winkler County Airport is a county-owned, public-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 surfa ...
in
Winkler County, Texas
Winkler County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,791. Its county seat is Kermit. The county was created in 1887 and organized in 1910. It is named for Clinton McKamy Winkler, a colonel in the ...
, United States. It is located three
nautical miles (6
km) northwest of the
central business district of
Wink, Texas.
This airport is included in the
National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which
categorized it as a ''
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 ...
'' facility.
History
The airport was opened in August 1941 as Wink Field and 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. It was an auxiliary airfield to
Hobbs Army Airfield
Hobbs Army Airfield was an airfield used during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces Air Training Command as part of the Western Flight Training Center. It is located in the vicinity of Hobbs, New Mexico.
History
On 18 December 194 ...
,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
as part of the AAF Advanced Flying School (Twin-Engine) at Hobbs. At the end of the war the airfield was determined to be excess by the military and turned over to the local government for civil use.
[Thole, Lou (1999), Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now - Vol. 2. Publisher: Pictorial Histories Pub, ]
Facilities and aircraft
Winkler County Airport covers an area of 1,000
acres (405
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 § Ver ...
of 2,822 feet (860 m) above
mean sea level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set.
For a data set, the '' ari ...
. 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 ...
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, concre ...
s: 13/31 is 5,003 by 100 feet (1,525 x 30 m) and 4/22 is 3,514 by 100 feet (1,071 x 30 m).
For the 12-month period ending May 20, 2021, the airport had 2,720 aircraft operations, an average of 52 per week: 100%
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 ...
. At that time there were 14 aircraft based at this airport, 13 single-engine and 1 helicopter.
See also
*
List of airports in Texas
This list of airports in Texas (a U.S. state) is grouped by type and sorted by location. It contains all public-use and military airports in the state. Some private-use and former airports may be included where notable, such as airports that were p ...
*
Texas World War II Army Airfields
During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces established numerous airfields in Texas for training pilots and aircrews. The amount of available land and the temperate climate made Texas a prime location for year-round military training. By ...
*
References
External links
Airport pageat Winkler County website
* at
Texas DOT
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 ...
Airport Directory
Aerial image as of January 1996from
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...
''
The National Map
''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to pro ...
''
*
{{US-airport-ga, INK
Airports in Texas
Buildings and structures in Winkler County, Texas
Transportation in Winkler County, Texas
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Texas