Transform Your Flight Sim Experience
with In-Depth Tracking & Analysis
Track every flight, analyse your performance,
and master your flying skills with My FS Flights
Get 10 flights free every month!
Tracked and analysed flights over miles
Stinson Municipal Airport (KSSF) lies on San Antonio's south side, seven miles from downtown, and holds the distinction of being the second-oldest continuously operating general aviation airport in the United States. Today it serves as the city's primary reliever airport, hosting flight schools, an FBO, and a busy mix of private, corporate and training traffic beneath San Antonio's Class C airspace.
Stinson Municipal Airport is a city-owned general aviation field on the south side of San Antonio, Texas, and is notable as the second-oldest general aviation airport in continuous operation in the United States, after College Park Airport. It functions as the designated reliever airport for San Antonio International, absorbing much of the region's private, corporate and flight-training traffic. For a simulator pilot, Stinson offers a compact, historically rich airfield with a control tower, two hard-surfaced runways and a strong general aviation character, set within sight of the San Antonio Missions and the Alamo.
Stinson sits about seven miles south of downtown San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas, underneath the wider San Antonio terminal airspace. Traffic in the area is worked by San Antonio Approach/Departure on 125.7 MHz. The airfield is close to the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and pilots operating nearby should expect proximity to San Antonio International Airport's controlled airspace to the north.
Stinson has two paired hard-surfaced runways, both lit. Runway 09/27 is the longer of the pair, with published lengths of 4,544 ft for runway 09 and 4,993 ft for runway 27. Runway 14/32 is shorter, with 3,531 ft published for runway 14 and 3,746 ft for runway 32. Field elevation is 564 ft, and there is no ILS approach at the airport.
Stinson is a towered airport. The control tower and CTAF operate on 118.2 MHz, with ground control also on 121.7 MHz and clearance delivery on the same 121.7 MHz frequency. ATIS is broadcast on 128.8 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. San Antonio Approach/Departure works arriving and departing traffic on 125.7 MHz. The airport has no instrument landing system.
The airfield lies along the San Antonio Missions Parkway, within the state's only UNESCO World Heritage site district, making the Mission Reach corridor and the historic Spanish missions useful visual landmarks when approaching from the north or south. A hike-and-bike trail connects the airport grounds to the Mission Reach, and the airport's historic 1930s terminal building is a further identifiable feature on the field itself.
Stinson traces its origins to October 1915, when the Stinson family leased land southeast of San Antonio from the city after being displaced from Fort Sam Houston by the arrival of the 1st Aero Squadron. Emma Stinson managed the resulting Stinson School of Flying, financed by Katherine Stinson, with Marjorie Stinson serving as flight instructor and Eddie Stinson working as a mechanic; the first class of five Canadian students graduated in November 1915, and by March 1916 the school had grown to 24 students and four aircraft. Civilian flying was banned during the First World War, after which the airfield became San Antonio's civil airport in 1918. It was renamed Windburn Field in 1927 before reverting to Stinson Field in 1936, the same period in which the Works Progress Administration built the terminal building between 1935 and 1936. During the Second World War the United States Army Air Forces used the field as a training base, returning it to the City of San Antonio for civilian use once the war ended. The historic terminal was renovated between 2006 and 2008, runway 9/27 was resurfaced and extended before reopening in March 2010, and a new control tower, funded by the city and the Texas Department of Transportation, began construction in 2017 and entered operation in 2019. In August 2010 the Texas Wing of the Civil Air Patrol relocated its statewide headquarters to Stinson for several years before moving elsewhere.
Stinson remains an active general aviation airport and the principal reliever for San Antonio International, hosting a full-service FBO, three flight schools, police and state aviation units, a Part 135 charter operator, aerial photography businesses, and a helicopter tour company and flight school. The field also houses the Texas Air Museum's Stinson Chapter, and the surrounding grounds include a hike-and-bike trail linking to the Mission Reach corridor. The control tower is staffed daily, and both Jet A and 100LL fuel are available on the field alongside tie-down and hangar space for visiting aircraft.
