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Reno Stead Airport Reno/Stead Airport is a large general aviation airport located in the North Valleys area, northwest of the central business district of Reno, a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It is owned by the Reno Tahoe Airport Authority. The airport is home to the Reno Air Races and is also used by the Bureau of Land Management as a base for fire fighting aircraft. In addition, it was the launch site of Earthwinds, which tried and failed multiple times to circumnavigate the globe.
Stead Air Force Base The airport began life as Stead Air Force Base, which was primarily used for survival training and hosted the SAGE DC-16 direction center. Reno Army Air Base was originally assigned to the Second Air Force in October 1942. Although the base was originally intended for use as a training center, the operation of its facilities required the additional construction to accommodate the number of troops brought there for training. The Ferrying Division of the Air Transport Command assumed command of the base in 1943 until its deactivation in 1945. In April 1948, the 192nd Fighter Squadron, Nevada Air National Guard, took over the then vacant base for training activities. In December 1949, 1st Lt Croston Stead, a Reno native, lost his life when his P-51 Mustang crashed at the base during a flying training mission. In January 1951, the base was named Stead AFB in his honor. In 1952 it was determined that the Sierra Nevada mountains and forests would be suitable for survival training and the USAF Survival School moved to Stead AFB from Fort Carson, Colorado. In September 1954, Stead AFB became part of the Air Training Command (ATC) and the 3635th Combat Crew Training Wing (Survival) was activated. In January 1958, a small group of instructor pilots from Randolph AFB, Texas was sent to Stead AFB to determine the feasibility of advanced helicopter training in the area’s mountains. On July 15, 1958, the 3635th Crew Training Wing was redesignated as the 3635th Flying Training Wing (Advanced), concurrent with the relocation of the USAF Helicopter Pilot School to Stead. During the summer and fall of 1958, the USAF Helicopter School was moved from Randolph AFB to Stead AFB and designated the 3638th Flying Training Squadron (Helicopter). The base provided ample
facilities and an unencumbered airspace in which to operate the flying training mission. The base had also recently undergone a large building project of all new Capehart family housing which lent well to the accompanying military families. Pilots would undergo training in the H-19 Chickasaw and Piasecki H-21 Workhorse/Shawnee helicopters. The syllabus would contain basic transition training and instruments as well as advanced operational techniques in high altitude confined area and mountain operations. Training in the HH-43 Huskie was also introduced as that airframe entered the USAF inventory. Pilots from all fixed-wing and rotary-wing backgrounds would also attend the USAF Survival School at Stead in preparation for operational assignments. Flying training was conducted at Stead as well as an auxiliary airfield, Sky Ranch, located about 10 miles east of the base. A number of unprepared ridgetop and pinnacle landing spots at altitudes up to 8,100 feet MSL were located on Peavine Mountain directly south of the base. A similar number of tree-lined spots were located in Dog Valley, southwest of Peavine, to conduct confined area landing and takeoff procedures. The area north of Stead to Pyramid Lake was used for instrument training. The first students to go through helicopter pilot training were rated fixed-wing USAF pilots. In fact, all pilots undergoing helicopter pilot training since 1944 had been rated pilots. In 1965, students were entered into helicopter pilot training having received approximately 120 hours in the T-28 Trojan, but not yet having received their wings. They would receive their wings upon graduation from helicopter training. The 3638th Flying Training Squadron (Helicopter) trained not only USAF pilots but also many from foreign countries. At least a dozen countries, including Japan, Argentina, Pakistan, India, France, Bolivia and China (Taiwan), sent pilots to basic helicopter pilot training as well as instructor pilot upgrading. There was an Exchange Program with England’s Royal Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force for a 2-year tour by the Exchange pilots. U.S. Marine Corps pilots flying the Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw were given a short course in high altitude mountain flying techniques. Four RAAF helicopter pilots also received several hours of mountain indoctrination on their way from UH-1 Huey training at Fort Rucker and returning to Australia to fly their own “Hueys”. From 1958 through 1965, the Helicopter School trained over 1252 USAF and 384 foreign helicopter pilots. In support of the Air Rescue Service, which was seeking a better performing aircraft for combat search and rescue missions in Southeast Asia, the Helicopter School also con-