For the United States Air Force use of the airport, see Stead Air Force Base

Stead Air Force Base

Stead Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base operational in Nevada from 1942 to 1966. After its closure, it was reopened as Reno Stead Airport...

Reno/Stead Airport is a large general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located in the North Valleys area, 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) northwest of the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 of Reno

Reno, Nevada

Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...

, a city in Washoe County, Nevada

Washoe County, Nevada

Washoe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. The population was 421,407 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County includes the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area.-History:...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is owned by the Reno Tahoe Airport Authority.

Reno/Stead Airport does not have regularly scheduled service, but it functions as a general aviation reliever for the nearby Reno/Tahoe International Airport

Reno/Tahoe International Airport

Reno-Tahoe International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located three nautical miles southeast of the central business district of Reno, a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States...

. The airport is home to the Reno Air Races

Reno Air Races

The Reno Air Races, also known as the National Championship Air Races, take place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada, USA...

 and is also used by the Bureau of Land Management

Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...

 as a base for fire fighting aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

. In addition, it was the launch site of Earthwinds, which tried and failed multiple times to circumnavigate the globe.

Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier

Location identifier

A location identifier is a symbolic representation for the name and the location of an airport, navigation aid, or weather station, and is used for manned air traffic control facilities in air traffic control, telecommunications, computer programming, weather reports, and related services.-ICAO...

 for the FAA

Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

 and IATA

International Air Transport Association

The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...

, this airport is assigned RTS by the FAA, but has no designation from the IATA, which assigned RTS to Rottnest Island Airport

Rottnest Island Airport

Rottnest Island Airport is a small airport for light aircraft, situated about 800 metres from the main settlement at Thomson Bay. Daily air services operate to the island. In the past these have been from Perth Airport, but in recent years have been mainly from Jandakot.The single runway runs...

 in Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island is located off the coast of Western Australia, near Fremantle. It is called Wadjemup by the Noongar people, meaning "place across the water". The island is long, and at its widest point with a total land area of . It is classified as an A Class Reserve and is managed by the...

, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

Since 1964, Reno Stead Airport has been home to the National Championship Air Races, also known as the Reno Air Races

Reno Air Races

The Reno Air Races, also known as the National Championship Air Races, take place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada, USA...

, held every September. Formerly, the airport was known as Stead Air Force Base

Stead Air Force Base

Stead Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base operational in Nevada from 1942 to 1966. After its closure, it was reopened as Reno Stead Airport...

.

Facilities and aircraft

Reno/Stead Airport covers an area of 5000 acres (2,023.4 ha) at an elevation

Elevation

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

 of 5050 feet (1,539.2 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt

Asphalt

Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...

 paved runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

s: 14/32 is 9000 by and 8/26 is 7608 by.

For the 12-month period ending November 1, 2007, the airport had 64,000 aircraft operations, an average of 175 per day: 84% general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 and 16% military

Military aviation

Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...

. At that time there were 120 aircraft based at this airport: 74% single-engine

Aircraft engine

An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...

, 6% multi-engine, 7% jet

Jet aircraft

A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...

, 2% glider

Glider aircraft

Glider aircraft are heavier-than-air craft that are supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against their lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Mostly these types of aircraft are intended for routine operation without engines, though engine failure can...

, 2% ultralight and 10% military

Military aircraft

A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...

.

External links

• Reno-Stead Airport page at Reno/Tahoe International Airport web site diagram from Nevada DOT Airport Directory
• Reno Air Racing Association