Minden–Tahoe Airport is a general aviation airport serving the Carson Valley in Douglas County, Nevada, United States, including the towns of Minden, Gardnerville and Genoa, Nevada; and Lake Tahoe to the west. The airport is about five miles north of Minden. It is home to the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center and regional firefighting air tanker base.
The airport is a mecca for soaring, and many North American and world records have been flown out of Minden in the many gliders that it hosts.
Gliders are usually towed to altitudes of over the airport, and they are often able to make out and return flights to the White Mountains, Owens Valley, and Eastern Nevada, often covering distances of over .
During winter months the famous Sierra mountain wave can carry gliders well over , with the Minden record well over .
A non-fatal mid-air collision near the Pine Nuts range between a glider and a small jet at has heightened the awareness for all airplanes flying in the area that both types of aircraft need to watch for each other.
The airport is undergoing an expansion plan where glider operations will be moved to the east side of the airport.
Minden–Tahoe Airport is the base for the "Introduction to Soaring" tutorial mission supplied with Microsoft Flight Simulator X.
Facilities Minden–Tahoe Airport covers at an elevation of . It has two asphalt runways: 16/34 is and 12/30 is . A glider runway (12G/30G) has of dirt.
In the year ending May 10, 2023 the airport had 90,920 aircraft operations, average 249 per day: 96% general aviation, 3% air taxi, and less than 1% military. 272 aircraft were then based at the airport: 141 single-engine, 22 multi-engine, 6 jet, 8 helicopter, 94 glider and 1 ultralight.
Airshow Minden-Tahoe hosts the Aviation Roundup, an annual event usually held in the fall. In 2016 and 2017, the airshow was headlined by the United States Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team. The 2018 airshow featured the United States Navy Blue Angels.
See also List of airports in Nevada
References
External links Minden–Tahoe Airport, official website Aviation Roundup - Minden-Tahoe airshow website Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center Civil Air Patrol: Douglas County Composite Squadron Hutt Aviation SoaringNV Minden Soaring Club Soar Minden(closed ~3/2011) Aerial image as of September 1999 from USGS The National Map from Nevada DOT