Wendover Airport
IATA: ENV – ICAO: KENV – FAA LID: ENV
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Port of West Wendover
Location		Wendover, Utah
Elevation AMSL		4,237 ft / 1,291.4 m
Coordinates		40°43′07″N 114°01′51″W / 40.71861°N 114.03083°W / 40.71861; -114.03083Coordinates: 40°43′07″N 114°01′51″W / 40.71861°N 114.03083°W / 40.71861; -114.03083
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
8/26	8,000	2,438	Asphalt
12/30	8,001	2,439	Asphalt

Wendover Airport (IATA: ENV, ICAO: KENV, FAA LID: ENV) is a public airport located one mile (1.6 km) southeast of the central business district (CBD) of Wendover, a city in Tooele County, Utah, USA.

History

Wendover Field was conceived during the late 1930s, and Congress appropriated funds in 1940 for the acquisition of land for bombing and gunnery ranges. Wendover was selected because of the Great Salt Lake desert with its shimmering salt flats and other vast uninhabited terrain. Wendover, Utah was a town of about 103 people, with railroad lines running between Salt Lake City and three West Coast cities. The Army Air Corps began building structures on September 20, 1940 in Wendover and this would ultimately become Wendover Field.

This installation became a subpost of Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, on July 29, 1941 and additional land acquisitions brought the total area to 1,822,000 acres. The total site was 18 to 36 miles wide and 86 miles long. The site was hailed as the largest bombing and gunnery range in the world. The first unit to be assigned, moved to the desert post on August 12, 1941 with a detachment of one officer and ten enlisted men. Another 37 men moved there soon after and started setting up targets on the salt desert. Construction continued from 1940 through the end of the war, but the most intense building period was completed in 1943. Projects included a pipeline to a spring at Pilot's Peak, thus ending a water shortage.

Wendover Army Air Base was activated on 28 March 1942 as a B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment training base, and the first unit, the 306th bombardment Group of four squadrons of B-17 aircraft arrived in mid-April of 1942. Few buildings were completed and training facilities were scarce when the 306th Bombardment Group arrived. A city of salt and other targets were built on the Bonneville Salt Flats by the range detachment. They also installed an electrical system for night illumination and built a machine gun range north of town.

By the end of 1942, three groups had completed training, and a fourth group was still in training. Training included exercises in high-altitude formation flying, long-range navigation, target identification, and simulated combat missions. During 1943, thirteen additional bombardment groups were trained at the Utah range. At the end of the year, four groups were in training, and beginning in 1944, two groups departed, leaving two B-24 groups - the last of the Liberator groups to be trained at the desert range. All told, there were 21 bomber groups and over 1,000 aircrews that completed training at Wendover Airfield, enough to outfit the entire Eighth Air Force (8 AF), but not all went to that organization. The crews participated in the strategic bombing of Germany, flew in support of D-Day, and conducted combat operations around the world. Three of the groups had Medal of Honor recipients. Bombardment training ended in April 1944 when P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft pilot training began and 60 trainees arrived from Louisiana. The 72nd Fighter Wing took charge of the airfield, but only briefly. The program ended in September after three groups, 180 men, had entered training.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had established the "Manhattan Engineer District" for the purpose of developing an atomic bomb. By 1944, development of the bomb was under way and the B-29 Superfortress bomber was selected to deliver the weapon. General Henry "Hap" Arnold, Commander of the Army Air Forces, named Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. to head the select team. Only Tibbets knew the mission of the 509th Composite Group, and he chose Wendover Field, Utah, for training because of its isolation, the need for security, and the wide open spaces available for training.

Wendover Army Air Base was transferred to the Ogden Air Technical Service Command (Ogden Air Logistics Center) on 31 December 1945. A detachment of the Special Weapons Branch, Wright Field, Ohio, had arrived at Wendover in October 1944 with the mission of evaluating captured and experimental rocket systems. The missiles were of three types: the first included power-driven bombs such as the German V-1 "buzz bomb;" the second were glide bombs equipped with wings and gyro-stabilizers, which could be controlled by radio or other means. The third consisted of conventional bombs which could be controlled by the launching aircraft. Numerous tests were conducted, including the JB-2, a copy of the German V-1.

With the establishment of an independent U.S. Air Force, the installation was renamed Wendover Air Force Base and transferred to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) in March 1947 and used by bombardment groups deploying on maneuvers. Wendover AFB was inactivated on 1 October 1949 and transferred to the Ogden Air Material Area at Hill Air Force Base in 1950, with the Wendover range continuing to be utilized for bombing and gunnery practice. Tactical Air Command (TAC) reactivated the base in 1954 and tactical units deployed there for exercises. TAC utilized the base for the next four years and spent several million dollars renovating facilities. Wendover was transferred back to Ogden in 1958 and renamed Wendover Air Force Auxiliary Field. The range was renamed Hill Air Force Range in 1960 and the base was again inactivated in January 1969. An air-to-ground scorable gunnery range was constructed in 1973 and an Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) System was installed in 1985. It is an instrumentation tracking system for training aircrews in simulated weapons engagements by fighter-bombers and is in continuous use. Control of the range was assumed by Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) on 1 January 1979. It was renamed the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) with management by the 6545th Test Group at Hill AFB.

Wendover AAF was declared surplus in 1976 and on 16 June, most of the field, including the water system, was turned over to Wendover, Utah, as a municipal airport. Beginning in 1980, the 4440th Tactical Fighter Training Group (Red Flag) at Nellis AFB, Nevada, used the field for exercises, but they were discontinued after 1986. In the late 1990's the airport's ownership was transferred from the city of Wendover to Tooele County.

Still-extant facilities include three paved runways, numerous ramps, taxiways, dispersal pads, all of the original hangars (including the "Enola Gay" B-29 hangar), and 75 other World War II-era buildings.

Several flying scenes for the 1997 movie "Con Air" were filmed at Wendover, using a Fairchild C-123K Provider. A non-profit group, Historic Wendover Airfield, is attempting to restore the historic elements of the field.

Facilities

Wendover Airport covers 1,960 acres (793 ha) and has two runways:

• Runway 8/26: 8,000 x 150 ft (2,438 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
• Runway 12/30: 8,001 x 100 ft (2,439 x 30 m), Surface: Asphalt

Airlines and destinations

Currently, there is no scheduled airline service to Wendover. However, Xtra Airways offers charter flights to various cities across the United States from Wendover using Boeing 737-400 aircraft as part of a package deal to bring tourists to local casinos. On average, the airport will see one Xtra Airways flight per day.

Location & QuickFacts

Owner & Manager

Airport Operations and Facilities

Airport Communications

Airport Services

Runway Information

Runway 08/26

Runway 12/30

Radio Navigation Aids

Remarks

• EXISTED PRIOR TO 1959.

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We thank them for the data!

General Info
Country	United States
State	UTAH
FAA ID	ENV
Latitude	40-43-07.303N
Longitude	114-01-51.204W
Elevation	4235 feet
Near City	WENDOVER

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