Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Double Eagle II Airport (KAEG) is a city-owned general aviation reliever field on the far west side of Albuquerque, New Mexico, named for the balloon that made the first transatlantic crossing. With two lit hard-surface runways, an ILS approach and a control tower, it handles a busy mix of training, corporate, air ambulance, military and lighter-than-air traffic away from the congestion of Albuquerque International Sunport.
Double Eagle II Airport is a public-use general aviation airport owned by the City of Albuquerque and located on the west side of the city. It was built as a reliever airport to take pressure off Albuquerque International Sunport and to replace several smaller fields around the city that have since closed. The airport takes its name from the Double Eagle II balloon, the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean, flown by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman. For a simulator pilot it offers a towered, ILS-equipped field with plenty of general aviation, training and even balloon and lighter-than-air traffic to work around.
Double Eagle II lies about seven miles northwest of downtown Albuquerque, on the far west side of the city in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. The field sits under the wider Albuquerque terminal airspace, with Albuquerque Approach/Departure working aircraft in and out of the area on 127.4 MHz. The airport has its own control tower, operating within the surrounding controlled airspace during its published hours.
Double Eagle II has two paved physical runways. Runway 04/22 is 7,359 feet long, hard-surfaced and lit, with an ILS serving the approach to runway 22. Runway 17/35 is 5,996 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit. Field elevation is 5,810 feet.
Albuquerque Approach/Departure is available on 127.4 MHz for arriving and departing traffic. The field broadcasts an AWOS-3 automated weather observation on 119.025 MHz. Clearance Delivery works on 124.8 MHz, and the control tower operates on 120.15 MHz between 0600 and 2200. Outside those advertised hours, or for aircraft without tower contact, 122.8 MHz serves as the CTAF/UNICOM frequency. Runway 22 is served by an ILS.
Published traffic pattern altitude at Double Eagle II is 6,800 feet MSL. Right-hand traffic patterns are flown for runways 22 and 35, with standard left-hand patterns for the reciprocal runways 04 and 17. Pilots should expect to coordinate with the tower on 120.15 MHz during its operating hours, or use the CTAF on 122.8 MHz outside those times.
The airport lies roughly seven miles northwest of Albuquerque's central business district, on the open west mesa of the city, which makes it a fairly distinct, isolated field to spot against the surrounding terrain when inbound from the city centre.
The origins of Double Eagle II Airport date back to a 1969 study by Landrum & Brown examining how to accommodate aviation growth in the Albuquerque area, followed in 1970 by the appointment of a joint Metropolitan Airport Evaluation Committee to study facility needs. Construction began in 1982, and the airport opened in 1983 with a single runway, 04/22; the second runway, 17/35, was added some years later. The airport was named for the Double Eagle II balloon, piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman on the first successful balloon crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. In 2005 Utilicraft Aerospace Industries announced plans, backed by Navajo Nation investment, to build cargo aircraft at the airport, though the deal later collapsed without any aircraft being produced. The airport has also served as a filming location, including the pilot episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, for which the airport sign was temporarily altered to read "Red Valley Regional Airport," and the Better Call Saul episode "Fifi," filmed while the airport hosted the airworthy B-29 Superfortress bomber of the same name.
Double Eagle II remains an active general aviation reliever airport for Albuquerque, supporting training, military, law-enforcement, medevac, corporate, charter, private and lighter-than-air operations, including at least one flight school based on the field. Estimates of based aircraft and annual operations vary by source and year, but figures have ranged from around 136 to roughly 240 based aircraft and from about 60,000 to over 120,000 annual operations, reflecting a consistently busy general aviation environment.
