South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo

Hondo Municipal Airport
File:Hondo-14jan1999.jpg
IATA: HDO ICAO: KHDO FAA LID: HDO
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	City of Hondo
Serves	Hondo, Texas
Elevation AMSL	930 ft / 283 m
Coordinates	29°21′35″N 099°10′36″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 4/22 5,400 1,646 Concrete 8/26 6,059 1,847 Concrete 13/31 6,045 1,843 Concrete 17L/35R 5,624 1,714 Concrete 17R/35L 3,224 983 Asphalt
Statistics (2008)
Aircraft operations 27,120 Based aircraft 22
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Hondo MAP

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Location of Hondo Municipal Airport, Texas

Hondo Municipal Airport (IATA: HDO, ICAO: KHDO, FAA LID: HDO) is a public-use airport located two nautical miles (3.7 km) northwest of the central business district of Hondo, in Medina County, Texas, United States. It is owned and operated by the city of Hondo.

History

Shown in this picture is the Hagner Planetarium, a brightly-colored vehicle used by navigation cadets at Hondo Army Air Field, Texas to ride herd on the stars. This intricate gadget helps the navigator get the "feel" of the 52 celestial bodies which show him the way as he directs his bomber through uncharted skies. The navigator can determine his position in the sky by sketching astronomical triangles involving his ship, the stars and certain points on the Earth's surface. Hondo-trained navigators learn that these celestial signposts can give them an unerring signal to turn to the bombardier and say, "That's Tokyo, pal, bombs away!"

In early 1942 Hondo applied for a United States Army Air Force pilot-training facility. Citizens acquired guarantees of 400 housing units in less than two days. Authorization for construction of the navigation school arrived from Washington in March 1942. The Henry B. Zachry Company of San Antonio used 3,000 employees to construct more than 600 buildings, numerous streets, a utility network, and an airdrome with runways, taxiways, and aprons, in eighty-nine days and at a cost of nearly $7.25 million. A 330-unit housing project known as Navigation Village sprang up on fifty-two acres at the southeastern corner of the 3,675-acre (14.87 km²) base.

The airport was opened in July 1942 as Hondo Army Airfield and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base. The airfield, commanded by Col G. B. Dany, began operations on July 4, 1942, began student training on August 10, 1942, and graduated its first class of navigators on November 26 of that year. By that time more than 5,300 military personnel were stationed at the base. The aircraft included B-34s, B-18s, AT-7s, and AT-11s. The school was the largest United States Air Force navigation School in the world at the time.

The Women's Air Force Service Pilot squadrons were assigned there in November 1943. Two notable woman pilots, Betty Henrich and Hollywood stunt actress Mary Wiggins, were among the first WASPs to report for duty. Between July 1942 and August 1945 some 14,158 navigators were trained at Hondo. The base was closed on December 29, 1945, and the buildings and fixtures were sold as surplus.

Between 1945 and 1951 civilian operators such as the Hollaway flying school trained student pilots at the former base under the GI Bill

As a result of the Korean War, the United States Air Force reactivated the base as a contract pilot training center with Texas Aviation Industries, directed by H. B. Zachry, training pilots at Hondo Air Base in J-3's, and T-6s in a joint effort with the United States Air Force. In 1955, they were replaced with T-28s, and T-34s. This arrangement ended when the base was closed again on June 30, 1958.

During the 1960s the city of Hondo leased facilities at the base to the Hondo Livestock Auction and to Gary Aerospace, Universal Rundle, and Doss Aviation. The aviation companies worked with the United States Air Force to screen pilots, and Universal Rundle manufactured toilets.

In 1957 a golf course was constructed on the base through the efforts of base commander Lt Col Earl V. Riley. A golf tournament bearing his name remained a yearly event in the 1980s. In the spring of 1973 the Air Force began a flight-screening program at Hondo using the T-41 Mescalero, a militarized version of the civilian Cessna 172. The training program, still in operation in the 1980s, was attended by United States and foreign students.

After the mid-1970s the base housed a number of businesses, including a fiberglass-products plant, a greenhouse, a national guard armory, and the Medina Electric Cooperative.

Facilities and aircraft

Hondo Municipal Airport covers an area of 3,500 acres (1,416 ha) at an elevation of 930 feet (283 m) above mean sea level. It has five runways:

• 4/22 is 5,400 by 150 feet (1,646 x 46 m) with a concrete surface;
• 8/26 is 6,059 by 150 feet (1,847 x 46 m) with a concrete surface;
• 13/31 is 6,045 by 150 feet (1,843 x 46 m) with a concrete surface;
• 17L/35R is 5,624 by 150 feet (1,714 x 46 m) with a concrete surface;
• 17R/35L is 3,224 by 140 feet (983 x 43 m) with an asphalt surface.

For the 12-month period ending April 14, 2008, the airport had 27,120 aircraft operations, an average of 74 per day: 69% military and 31% general aviation. At that time there were 22 aircraft based at this airport: 82% single-engine, 14% multi-engine and 4% helicopter.

See also

• Texas World War II Army Airfields

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

• Aerial photo as of 14 January 1995 from USGS The National Map
• FAA Terminal Procedures for HDO, effective September 5, 2024
• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for HDO
  • AirNav airport information for KHDO
  • ASN accident history for HDO
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures