Originally published in 1999
AUSTIN – The last aircraft on the airfield departed from the closed Austin Robert Mueller Municipal Airport at 5:05 p.m. on June 24, 1999.
The Turbo-charged Cessna 206 was flown on an FAA Ferry Permit from Austin to Precision Aircraft Services of Leander, Texas.
The pilot, Mike McKenna, was interviewed by local television station KTBC prior to departure, as he walked the airfield to visually inspect and determine a hazard-free taxi path and good runway to use for the departure. Since taxiways and runways had been plowed-up earlier, the taxi path necessitated crossing grass medians and avoiding debris littered about for a safe departure. McKenna lives in Cedar Creek and has been a pilot for more than 35 years, 29 of those years as a flight instructor. He said, “I have been in and out of worse airports,” noting the worsening airfield condition at Mueller. McKenna continued, “another airport will probably be necessary in a decade or so in the Austin area.”