Ellington Airport (Texas)

Ellington Airport is a public and military use airport in Harris County, Texas, United States. It is owned by the City of Houston and located 15 nautical miles (17 mi, 28 km) southeast of downtown Houston. Formerly known as Ellington Field, it is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation reliever airport. The airport does not have scheduled commercial passenger service. On September 4, 2013, the City of Houston unveiled a plan which if approved, would build a terminal building on the site with the facility being rebranded as the Houston Spaceport.

History
Established by the Army Air Service on May 21, 1917, Ellington Field was one of the initial World War I Army Air Service installations when aviation was in its infancy. Originally created as a training facility, Ellington Airport is currently used by military, commercial, NASA aircraft and general aviation sectors. Ellington Airport is one of the few airfields built for World War I training purposes still in operation today.

In January 2009, a name change from Ellington Field to Ellington Airport was approved by the Houston City Council. In August 2011, the city announced that the facility would be renamed Ellington International Airport. However, as of May 2013, it is still listed as Ellington Airport by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Houston Airport System.

Overview


Ellington Airport consists of three active runways (a 9,001 - foot ILS CAT I runway, an 8001 ft runway, and a 4609 ft runway). The airport supports the operations of the United States military, NASA and a variety of general aviation tenants. The field is a base for NASA's administrative, cargo transport and high-altitude aircraft, which also includes NASA's fleet of T-38 Talon jets bailed to the agency from USAF, Gulfstream Shuttle Training Aircraft, and a former USN C-9 "Weightless Wonder VI" replaced the USAF NKC-135 aircraft known as the Vomit Comet, a zero-g trainer. The only two WB-57F aircraft used for atmospheric research and reconnaissance still flying in the world today are housed at Ellington. The Texas Air National Guard, Texas Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard also maintain a presence at the base. The Coast Guard facility known as Coast Guard Air Station Houston operates 3 Eurocopter MH-65C "Dolphin" Short-Range Recovery (SRR) helicopters for search and rescue (SAR) and port security roles. Ellington Field is also home to the largest flying club in Texas and the annual "Wings Over Houston" airshow.

Ellington Field once had scheduled commercial air service: Continental Express flights between Ellington Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in north Houston ended in 2004. Prior to the cessation of commercial air service, the route flown between Bush Intercontinental and Ellington Field was the shortest fixed-wing route flown in the United States at only 25 nmi. Flight times were as short as six minutes, depending on direction of departure. To this day, Ellington Field serves as a reliever airport for both Bush Intercontinental and the William P. Hobby Airport, and handles diverted aircraft from those two airports during bad weather events and peak traffic times. A Terminal Aerodrome Forecast is produced for the airfield 365 days a year at 20Z, 04Z, and 12Z by the 26th Operational Weather Squadron, a USAF weather squadron.

Facilities and aircraft
Ellington Field covers an area of 2,362 acres (956 ha) at an elevation of 32 feet (10 m) above mean sea level. It has three runways with concrete surfaces: 4/22 is 8,001 by 150 feet (2,439 x 46 m); 17R/35L is 9,000 by 150 feet (2,743 x 46 m); 17L/35R is 4,609 by 80 feet (1,405 x 24 m).

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2009, the airport had 126,702 aircraft operations, an average of 347 per day: 70% general aviation, 22% military, 6% air taxi, and 2% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 197 aircraft based at this airport: 46% single-engine, 28% jet, 12% multi-engine, 12% military, 2% helicopter, and 1% glider.