Battle Mountain Airport (IATA: BAM, ICAO: KBAM, FAALID: BAM), also known as Lander County Airport, is 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Battle Mountain, Nevada, United States. This general aviation airport is owned by Lander County and operated by the Battle Mountain Airport Authority.
History
The airport was built by the United States Army Air Forces about 1942, and was known as Battle Mountain Flight Strip. It was an emergency landing airfield by the Reno Army Air Base for military aircraft on training flights. It was also designated as a CAA Intermediate Field for civil aircraft emergency use. It was closed after World War II, and was turned over for local government use by the War Assets Administration (WAA).[2]
Facilities
The airport covers 1,066 acres (431 ha) and has two runways and two helipads:
3/21: 7,299 x 150 ft (2,225 x 46 m), surface: asphalt
12/30: 7,300 x 100 ft (2,225 x 30 m), surface: asphalt
Helipad H1: 60 x 60 ft (18 x 18 m), surface: concrete
Helipad H2: 60 x 60 ft (18 x 18 m), surface: concrete
Organizations
BAM is home to the Battle Mountain Air Attack Base, which is run by the Bureau of Land Management.[3] The Air Attack Base provides air tanker support for fire suppression in northern Nevada.[4] The Nevada Division of Forestry also operates an air tanker base at BAM.[5]
Displays
Several aerospace exhibits are available at the airport.[6][7]
Popular culture
The airstrip at Battle Mountain was used as a setting by novelist Dale Brown in his techno-thriller novel Battle Born.
Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History's Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
Brown, Dale (1999) Battle Born, 416 pp.(hardcover). Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1999.