Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
TSTC Waco Airport, once James Connally Air Force Base, is a large general-aviation and industrial airpark on the Texas State Technical College campus north-east of Waco, Texas. It offers a full ILS approach, two parallel hard-surfaced runways and controlled tower operations, making it a straightforward and well-equipped destination for VFR and IFR training flights alike. Its wartime pedigree as a navigator and pilot training base, and later use by Air Force One, give it a rich history behind its present-day role as an educational and aerospace-industry airfield.
TSTC Waco Airport (ICAO: KCNW) sits on the campus of Texas State Technical College at Waco, Texas, and is owned and operated by the college as part of its aviation training programme. Formerly James Connally Air Force Base, it is described as the largest airport in the United States owned by an educational institution, and today functions both as a flight-training base and as an industrial airpark hosting aerospace tenants. For a visiting pilot it offers long, well-lit runways, a full ILS, and tower service, making it an interesting and accessible stop in central Texas.
The airfield lies about eight nautical miles north-east of downtown Waco, in McLennan County, Texas, close to the Interstate 35 corridor, and forms part of the Texas State Technical College campus. It sits roughly midway along the Dallas/Fort Worth to Austin/San Antonio corridor, with Waco Approach and Waco Departure providing radar service to arriving and departing traffic.
The field has two physical runway pairs. 17L/35R is 8,603 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and served by an ILS on runway 17L. 17R/35L is a shorter hard-surfaced runway pair, with 17R at 6,296 feet and 35L at 6,350 feet. Field elevation is 463 feet.
Waco Approach operates on 135.2 MHz and Waco Departure on 126.125 MHz. The control tower and CTAF use 124 MHz. Ground control is on 121.7 MHz, UNICOM on 122.95 MHz, and an AWOS-3 automated weather observation is available on 134.225 MHz. A miscellaneous frequency of 123.55 MHz is listed for CTAS RDO, and 122.15 MHz for Fort Worth Radio. An ILS serves runway 17L, and NDB and GPS approaches are also available, supported by approach surveillance radar.
The tower is staffed by FAA-certified controllers seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and the airport's two parallel runways allow simultaneous arrivals and departures. Specific circuit heights and joining instructions are not detailed in available sources, so pilots should expect standard tower-directed sequencing typical of a controlled field with parallel runway operations.
The airport lies less than a mile from Interstate 35 and about eight miles north of downtown Waco, making the interstate a useful lead-in feature for VFR arrivals. The Texas State Technical College campus surrounding the airfield, with its associated industrial and hangar facilities, is a further distinguishing landmark when approaching from the south.
The airfield opened on 5 May 1942 as Waco Army Air Field and served as headquarters of the Army Air Force Central Instructors' School during the Second World War. It was deactivated in 1945 before being reactivated in 1948 as a pilot training base under the Air Training Command. The base was renamed for Colonel James T. Connally, killed in Japan in 1945, becoming known as Connally Air Force Base and later James Connally Air Force Base. From 1957 it supported the headquarters of the Twelfth Air Force based in nearby Waco while concentrating on navigator flight training. The base closed in 1968 as part of a nationwide reduction in air force facilities, with navigator training consolidated at Mather Air Force Base in California and the Twelfth Air Force relocated to Bergstrom Air Force Base near Austin. The site was then conveyed to the State of Texas by the General Services Administration. In civilian use the facility became a technical school campus, with General Dynamics, and later Electrospace Systems, Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems, Raytheon Aircraft Integration Systems and eventually L-3 Communications occupying hangar facilities for military aircraft modification work. Texas State Technical Institute was renamed Texas State Technical College in 1991. During his presidency, George W. Bush used the airport for Air Force One arrivals and departures on visits to his nearby Prairie Chapel Ranch, typically flying a Boeing VC-137 or a C-32 owing to runway length constraints for the primary VC-25 presidential aircraft.
TSTC Waco Airport is operated by Texas State Technical College as an industrial airpark supporting its aviation programmes, and is noted as the largest airport in the United States owned by an educational institution. It hosts aerospace tenants including L-3 Communications' Platform Integration Division. The airport's two parallel runways permit simultaneous arrivals and departures, and the tower is staffed by FAA-certified controllers from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily. On-site support includes full fuel service, an AWOS weather system, and an ARFF Index E fire and rescue unit. Lighting includes VASI, MALSR, taxi lights, lighted signage, a lighted wind sock and a rotating beacon, alongside the ILS, NDB and GPS approaches and approach surveillance radar already noted. A fixed-base operator, Servion of Waco, serves visiting aircraft.
