page_title: Ellington Airport (Texas)
section_title: Overview
hierarchical_section_title: Ellington Airport (Texas) / Overview
caption_attribution_description: WW2 (P-47, P-51), Vietnam (F-4) and Modern US Aircraft (F-15) flying in formation at Wings Over Houston 2006.
context_page_description: Ellington Airport is a public and military use airport in Harris County, Texas, United States. It is owned by the City of Houston and located 15 nautical miles southeast of downtown Houston. Formerly known as Ellington Field, then Ellington Air Force Base, then again as Ellington Field it is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation reliever airport. The airport does not have scheduled commercial passenger service. However, Continental Airlines used to operate daily regional services between Ellington and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport between 1990 and 2004. On October 17, 2018, the City of Houston approved Phase 1 of the Houston Spaceport project on the Ellington Airport site.
context_section_description: Ellington Airport consists of three active runways (a 9,001 - foot ILS CAT I runway, an 8,001-foot (2,439 m) runway, and a 4,609-foot (1,405 m) runway). The airport supports the operations of the United States military, NASA and a variety of general aviation tenants. The field is a base for NASA's administrative, cargo transport and high-altitude aircraft, which also includes NASA's fleet of T-38 Talon jets bailed to the agency from USAF, Gulfstream Shuttle Training Aircraft, and a former USN C-9 nicknamed the "Weightless Wonder VI" which replaced the former USAF NKC-135 aircraft known as the Vomit Comet, a zero-g trainer. The only two WB-57F aircraft (used for atmospheric research and reconnaissance) still flying in the world today are housed at Ellington.
  The Texas Air National Guard, Texas Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard also maintain a presence at the base. The Coast Guard facility known as Coast Guard Air Station Houston operates 3 Eurocopter MH-65C "Dolphin" Short-Range Recovery (SRR) helicopters for search and rescue (SAR) and port security roles.  Ellington Field is also home to the largest flying club in Texas and the annual "Wings Over Houston" airshow.
  Ellington Field once had scheduled commercial air service: Continental Express flights between Ellington Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in north Houston ended in 2004.  Prior to the cessation of commercial air service, the route flown between Bush Intercontinental and Ellington Field was the shortest fixed-wing route flown in the United States at only 25 nmi (46 km). Flight times were as short as six minutes, depending on direction of departure.  To this day, Ellington Field serves as a reliever airport for both Bush Intercontinental and the William P. Hobby Airport, and handles diverted aircraft from those two airports during bad weather events and peak traffic times. A Terminal Aerodrome Forecast is produced for the airfield 365 days a year at 20Z, 04Z, and 12Z by the 26th Operational Weather Squadron, a USAF weather squadron.
caption: World War II and Cold War -era US aircraft flying in formation during Wings Over Houston at Ellington Airport
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