By Rick Davenport
Texas Transportation Institute
Modern-day visitors to the Stinson Municipal Airport on San Antonio’s south side can’t help but collide head-on with a lesson in aviation history. In fact, up until recently, Stinson’s colorful past was the airport’s most valuable asset.
Most of the visitors already know a thing or two about Stinson’s roots, like the 1915 establishment of the Stinson School of Flying by the family of aviators with the same name – especially the two female aviation pioneers, Katherine and Marjorie Stinson. The sisters were among only a handful of women licensed to fly in the United States. At the time, aviation was in its infancy; the Wright Brothers first “powered” flight had happened just a dozen years earlier.
Over the years, Stinson attracted some of the biggest names in aviation: aerial photographer Edgar Tobin, World War I Hying ace Eddie Rickenbacker and aviator Charles Lindbergh – who kept one of his planes at Stinson.
By 1936, the airfield was renamed the Stinson Municipal Airport as the city began converting it into a permanent facility. A terminal was built with President Roosevelt’s New Deal funding. Soon afterward, the major airlines of the day began commercial operations from what many called “Stinson Field.”
Historic photographs adorn much of the wall space inside Stinson’s terminal building. It’s like an aviation museum all to itself.
‘We value our history because it is what made us great,” says Tim O’Krongley, the assistant aviation director for San Antonio’s Airport System. “But you don’t have to look around long to realize that the future is Stinson’s priority.”
In 2000, a master plan pinpointed Stinson’s weak links, including an outdated and cramped terminal building (built more than 60 years earlier} and a runway with less than the necessary 5,000 feet to safely accommodate corporate jets. Since then, $9 million ($4.8 million for the terminal and $4.0 for the runway and associated projects) was set aside for improvements designed to thrust Stinson into the future.
“The support we have received from the city and the local community has been overwhelming,” says Airport Manager Jennifer Hogancamp. “The culture of Southside San Antonio embraces the past, but it also appreciates the need to move forward. I am convinced that Stinson is well on its way to becoming one of the most progressive general aviation airports in the country.”
Last November- with the original historic building left intact – the renovations and additions to the terminal were completed, adding an additional 24,000 square feet of space. Amenities include a modern pilot’s lounge, an expanded restaurant and numerous state-of-the-art conference and meeting rooms. As a result of these improvements alone, Palo Alto College began using Stinson’s facilities for its aviation classes. It’s a big boost for the airport’s income.
And in January, Stinson’s new runway extension will be complete. The new runway length of 5,000 feet will allow many corporate operators to utilize the airport. It will mark a nearly 10-year effort to modernize the airstrip, and the completion couldn’t come at a better time. “The Toyota plant a few miles from here has been a huge potential client of ours since it was built a couple of years ago,” says O’Krongley. “Many of the corporate jets that support Toyota and their suppliers have had to use San Antonio International – all because of the current runway length was shy of 5,000 feet.”
There are other Stinson improvements in the works: taxi lanes will be extended, another 31 acres will be developed and new hangars will be built to accommodate the additional tenants, who are currently on waiting lists.
‘We are in a transition,” Hogancamp says. “But, anyone interested in our history will still be able see what aviation was like in its early days. We’re honoring our post and moving ahead at the same time .”
