Alamo airport (civilian airport near Groom Lake)

Alamo Airport is just two dirt strips near the metropolis of Alamo Nevada. The USAF used to land C-130s there prior to building the Keno dirt strip near the Cedar Pipeline ranch. The USAF still does the occasional parachute jumper exercise (PJE) at Alamo.

www.lazygranch.com...

Digging through the FAA documents, there is "noise" about turning it into a more conventional airport, as in paving.

#18-FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION GRANT FOR ALAMO AIRPORT Grants Administrator Shawn Frehner presented this item. This item concerns the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant application for Phase I construction of the Alamo Airport landing field in the amount of $3,325,000.00. This grant has been signed by Commissioner Ed as it had a deadline prior to this Commission. The match requirement is $166,000. RTC has funding set aside and Wendy Rudder is donating all of her time. Shawn’s time will go towards the match as well. NDOT will be providing funding towards the airport improvements. The match will not come out of county funds, other than the salary of the grants administrator. Wendy hopes that RTC will provide $63,000 for paving the road to the airport; this is part of the match. By applying, it doesn’t mean we are accepting the grant; this is to “hold our place in line”. The Air Force has agreed to this. Phase I includes fencing of the property; this is the first task that will be completed. Paul D. made a motion to approve; seconded by Ed. All voted in favor.

www.lincolncountynv.org...

From the minutes, it appears Nellis has some interest in the new construction.

Found this from an "Abandoned Airfields" website:
According to a USAF environmental assessment, Alamo Landing Field is currently used by the Air Force to conduct combat landing training for airlift forces.

However, Alamo is not ideal for the USAF's purposes: "Although presently used by military cargo aircraft, the field is owned, controlled by Lincoln County & used by civilian traffic, which restricts its use. Security & safety factors are additional issues that affect free & unrestricted use."

Therefore, the Air Force is attempting to replace its use of Alamo with a proposed airfield, Cedar Pass (to be built 60 miles east of Tonopah).

Freeman really needs to update that page. The big problem with the airfield was it was in blue territory. What the USAF wanted was a dirt strip on the edge of red territory, so that the planes could be attacked by SAMs. The airport itself isn't all that busy. I hear if you land there, the locals will drive out just to see who showed up. It was just a place that didn't make sense geographically for Red Flag.

However, there are some companies in town that might use the airport if it were actually paved. That is my guess as to why Lincoln County would want the project. The old JDFI facility, now Rapport International, and Cowboy's Dream might lease a tiny commuter plane (say a Cessna Caravan) for their high roller guests.
www.rapportleadership.com...
JDFI always looked suspicious to me. It seemed like an odd place for executives to goof off, er I mean do team building. The locals I talked to said nothing is going on there. They are more suspicious of the Cowboy's Dream. Rumors abound of Vegas entertainment (cough cough) being delivered to the Cowboy's Dream. I doubt that rumor given the amount of money the owner has (they have half a dozen Vegas cab/limo companies).

Anyway, these are the MAFEX photos I shot at the Keno airstrip last year.
www.rapportleadership.com...
The May MAFEX was kept very private because the roads were mysteriously blocked, and none of us wanted to see the inside of the Alamo Hall of Justice. The next one is guestimated to be on Nov 16, 2011.

Very little gets published in advance for MAFEX, though there are sometimes PJE NOTAMs. The players don't leave from Nellis, but rather they leave from their home bases and just show up in the range. If there is a NOTAM, it usually is for the afternoon session of the event, where all the "heavies" land at Nellis. They sometimes do drops in the morning at the Cedar Pipeline ranch drop zones.

This page has the drop zone locations (now unmarked, i.e. the USAF took down all the signs after I did that page) and some information on the Keno airstrip.
www.lazygranch.com...