Airport Facilities

Runway 

A single runway is available for use at Carson City Airport: Runway 9-27. Runway 9-27, at an elevation of 4,705 feet above mean sea level (MSL), is 6,100 feet long, 75 feet wide, and oriented in a east-west direction. The runway is constructed of asphalt.

Taxiways

Taxiway A is the full-length parallel taxiway providing access to both ends of Runway 9-27. Taxiway A is 50 feet wide and located 240 feet south of the Runway 9-27 centerline. Five entrance/exit taxiways connect Taxiway A and Runway 9-27. Taxiway A and the entrance/exit taxiways are constructed of asphalt.

Taxiway B is a north-south oriented taxiway extending between Runway 9- 27 and a series of hangars to the north. Taxiway C, oriented in a northwest-southeast direction, extends between the Runway 9 threshold and Taxiway B.

Taxiway C provides access for a series of through-the-fence operators located in the Carson City Industrial Airpark. Taxiway B is 35 feet wide while Taxiway C is 50 feet wide. Both taxiways are constructed of asphalt.

Aircraft Parking Apron

There are two primary aircraft parking aprons at Carson City Airport. The main apron area is located south of Runway 9-27. This apron is constructed of asphalt and encompasses approximately 65,200 square yards. Approximately 142 marked tie-down positions are located on this apron.

A second apron area is located northwest of the Runway 9 threshold. This apron is constructed of asphalt and encompasses approximately 44,000 square yards. There are approximately 48 marked aircraft tie-down positions on this apron.

Airfield Lighting

Airfield lighting systems extend an airport's usefulness into periods of darkness and/or poor visibility. A variety of lighting systems are installed at the airport for this purpose. These lighting systems, categorized by function, are summarized below.

Identification Lighting: The location of an airport at night is universally indicated by a rotating beacon. A rotating beacon projects two beams of light, one white and one green, 180 degrees apart. The rotating beacon at the airport is located on top of a steel tower on the south side of the airport next to the airport terminal building.

Runway and Taxiway Lighting: Runway and taxiway lighting utilizes light fixtures placed near the pavement edge to define the lateral limits of the pavement. This lighting is essential for safe operations at night and during times of low visibility to ensure safe and efficient access to and from the runway and aircraft parking areas. Runway 9-27 is equipped with medium intensity runway lighting (MIRL). Taxiway A is equipped with medium intensity taxiway lighting (MITL) while Taxiway B and C are equipped with reflectors.

Threshold lighting and Runway End Identifier Lights (REIL’s) identifies each runway end. Threshold lights have a special lens which is red on one-half of the lens and green on the other half of the lens. These lights are located at the runway end. The red portion of the light is visible from the runway to aid pilots in determining the runway end when departing. The green portion of the light is visible to pilots on approach to quickly identify the runway end for landing.

Runway End Identifier Lights (REIL’s) consists of a pair of synchronized flashing lights located laterally on each side of the runway threshold.

They are effective for:

• Identification of a runway surrounded by a preponderance of other lighting.
• Identification of a runway which lacks contrast with surrounding terrain.
• Identification of a runway during reduced visibility.

Visual Aids: Precision Approach Path Indicators (PAPI’s) are installed on the left hand side of Runway 9 and 27 at right angles to the runway center line. The PAPI is a light array positioned beside the runway and consists of two light units color coded to provide a visual indication of an aircraft's position relative to the designated glideslope for the runway. Depending on the position of the aircraft relative to the specified angle of approach, the lights will appear either red or white to the pilot. The pilot will have reached the normal glidepath (3 degrees) when there is an even number of red and white lights. If an aircraft is beneath the glidepath, red lights will outnumber white; if an aircraft is above the glidepath, more white lights are visible.

Carson City Airport is equipped with an Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS).

The AWOS-3 P/T provides automated aviation weather observations 24 hours a day. The system updates weather observations every minute, continuously reporting significant weather changes as they occur. The AWOS system reports cloud ceiling, cloud type, sky condition, visibility, temperature, dew point, wind direction and speed, wind gust, variable wind direction, altimeter setting (barometric pressure), density altitude (airfield elevation corrected for temperature), and thunderstorm/lighting detection. The AWOS frequency is 119.925 and the phone access number is 775-884-4708.