This airport has tons of hangars that are exactly the same color and look, maybe some are a different shape.
Wonder why an airport would do such a thing, maybe a bulk deal they got for purchasing the hangars?

It's a really strange looking airport near Missoula (Missoula Intl is just 35 miles north), and since it's so close and I'm releasing a version of Missoula soon....

If anyone has any knowledge, info, or pictures of this airport, please let me know.

 

Top is a photo quickly found with a web search for "32S airport".  The bottom image is a capture from Google Earth.  Airnav says the field elevation is right at 3,600.  The runway is 75' wide and just under 4,000' long.  Looks like more hangars than at Missoula.  The town's airport page indicates it may be a base for firefighting operations.  Rotary wing?

 

Edited October 10, 20223 yr by fppilot

Thanks for the pics, right I saw several other pics of it online, but the ones you posted are pretty good.

It's weird considering Hamilton which I believe is bigger is so close by. Kinda wonder how all these airports in the middle of nowhere even survive financially.

The population of that town is 1,850 people, that's a BIG airport for the middle of literally nowhere, I guess Tourism.

Edited October 10, 20223 yr by Alpine Scenery

I’m always amazed by the number of GA airports that exist in the US seemingly in the middle of nowhere, or just generally that there’s a very high density of GA airports.

We have our fair share in Canada but they’re everywhere in the US.  

https://www.townofstevensville.com/airport
 

The main firefighting ops and smoke jumping school is at the Missoula airport . Been thru this airport many times back when I was working many years ago . 

 

Edited October 10, 20223 yr by johnbow72

Where I used to fly all the hangars were small and looked the same (military looking Quonset huts). 

The airport cost the county almost nothing. No towers. No terminals. No navigation aids. 

As they routinely repaired the highway with trucks full of asphalts and a road grader, they just leveled an adjacent field and spread asphalt from the leftover amount of highway patch material. Took a day. No fence around it. Nothing else either. Except a windsock.

No fees for storing a plane. No county maintenance ever done except refilling some potholes as the trucks routinely filled potholes in the highway every 3 or 4 years.

Weeds! That's where we teenagers came into the picture. Hoe weeds for a few hours and you got air time in the planes. All of which were small. No freight or passenger haulers. Just small recreational planes, and one doctor had a plane. He flew to places that needed a specialist, and his large fees paid for the plane. What a bargain for the pilots, they did not have to trim the weeds or pick up paper trash themselves.

Flights not out on back were to nearby airports in neighboring counties. The exact same type of no maintenance airports. Every county had a couple. No radios in the planes (who would you talk to?). No navigation equipment. You followed that one highway and the railroad tracks to an airport. It's still the same thing at all those airports.

The highway was an emergency evacuation highway built early during  the cold war. About one car every two minutes sped by, usually at a very high speed. But this highway was big and wide. Perfect for 14 year olds to legally ride their motor bikes or bicycles to the airport for hoe and trash pike time. No drivers licenses yet, too young. But we all had learned how to fly.

 

In terms of the height... known issue with no plans to address.

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/airport-hangars-height-issues-auto-generated/328619/5

Incidentally I landed there in the early stages of MSFS. After the first WU US update I did a GA flight from Chicago to Seattle following interstate 90. 

What a coincidence.  In the sim I just landed at Stevensville and Ravalli County (Hamilton) maybe a month ago.  In real life I know someone that lives not far from both airports, but I have never been to that valley in real life.

The sectional chart has a parachute symbol next to Stevensville so I assume it's also a big smoke jumping center as well.   13,500 operations per year seems like a lot for a rural GA airport.  I bet the jumper aircraft routinely shuttle down from Missoula to Stevensville.  

If you are thinking of making scenery be aware they are in the process of approving a heap more hangars ... and this is only "Phase1" of the planned development, there are plans in train for a further "Phase 2" expansion once this current stage is complete.

https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/stevmt-pubu/MEET-Packet-88137b4b3beb4584ab2288f789585e7a.pdf

Quote

DCE Stevensville Airport Proposal (Phase 1)

Hangar Land Leases (see exhibit page 3: )
• Block 1 (Lots 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) 
• Block 3 (Lots 1, 2, 3, 4) 

Hangar Build Specifications: 
• Block 1 (Lots 9,10,11,12,13)   75’ x 50’ hangars with 70’ bifold or hydraulic doors 
• Block 3 (Lots 1, 2, 3, 4) 50’ x 50’ hangars with 45’ bifold doors  

Lease durations:  

50 years  

Timeline:

Break ground early Q4 2022 and install the first hangar to make sure there are no issues with set up. Then proceed with the rest of the hangars after the first one is finished (Due to supply chain issues materials may take longer than expected to arrive) 

 

Intended Uses:

• Lease/Rent to private individuals
• Lease to the Forest Service
• Commercial Use

Project Benefits:

This project will help meet the demand for more hangars in the mid Bitterroot region while developing out the Stevensville airport to its long intended utility. With the allocation of these requested leases the Stevensville airport will bring in a dedicated tenant who will increase airport revenue and function; and create a path to future airport improvement opportunities and revenue streams which we will explore further in Phase II of development. 

 

Edited October 11, 20223 yr by Glenn Fitzpatrick