Runway 17/35 is the crosswind runway and is also designed to meet ARC C-III standards. The runway is 8,308 feet long and 150 feet wide. Runway 17/35 is designed to accommodate aircraft weighing up to 93,000 SWG, 110,000 DWG and 170,000 DTW.  The runway is a non-precision instrument runway (GPS approaches) and is lighted with Medium Intensity Runway Lights (MIRL). 

Like Runway 8L/26R, Runway 17/35 is designed to meet ARC C-III standards.  As such, it should meet the same maximum longitudinal grade requirements as the primary runway (1.5% max. and ≤ 0.8% for the first 25%).  While it meets the 1.5% maximum criteria with a maximum grade of 1.2%, both ends of the runway exceed the 0.8% criteria and have grade in excess of 1.0% for the first 25% of runway length.  The effective gradient for the runway is 0.9725%.

Runway 8R/26L is a parallel runway to 8L/26R intended for use during visual flight conditions by small aircraft only.  It is separated from the primary runway by approximately 732 feet, which is slightly greater than the minimum 700’ parallel runway separation requirements specified in AC 150-5300-13.

Runway 8R/26L is designed for aircraft weighing up to 20,000 lbs. SWG.  It is not lighted, and is intended for daylight use only under Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC).  The runway has a maximum grade of .97% and an effective gradient of 0.2995%.

Taxiways and Aprons

By use of the mid-field apron as a taxiway, the airport has a full-length taxiway for Runway 8L/26R and 8R/26L.  Typical taxiway widths are 75 feet wide with the exception of Taxiway J which is 150 feet wide and holding bays on Taxiway K and B with widths of 275 feet.  The taxiway is offset from the primary runway at 500 feet at the closest point to 925 feet on the apron taxiway.  This separation at 500 feet meets design standards for approach categories C&D group V aircraft.  There are ten exit connector taxiways from Runway 8L/26R.   Runway 17/35 has a taxiway to its south end, but aircraft departing to the south or landing to the north must “back taxi” on the runway and turn-around at the north end at the Runway 17 threshold.  There is a taxiway stub on the north end to the west of the Runway 17 threshold that is used for aircraft to remain clear of the runway after performing their “back taxi” operation.  There are also taxilanes used to access the individual hangars located in the hangar areas. 

The current apron area consists of the commercial apron in front of the terminal building, a tie-down area west of the terminal primarily used by Flower Aviation for transient aircraft and an apron east of the terminal area near Silver State Aviation that is used by based aircraft, as well as transient aircraft, which includes the U.S. Forest Service, Colorado Department of Corrections and the U.S. Marshal Service. 

Airport Meteorological Information

The climate of the Pueblo area can generally be described as hot and arid when compared to the majority of the state.  Mid-summer daily maximum temperatures are typically in the 90’s, with frequent temperatures exceeding 100°F.  The hottest month is July, when the mean maximum temperature is 92.7°F.  Even with the hot average July temperatures, overnight temperatures fall to an average of 60.2°F.

A majority of the precipitation falls during the growing season (April to September), with the highest average precipitation occurring in August, with 2.08 inches. The lowest precipitation occurs during the winter, with an average of 0.3 inches in February.  As discussed, winter precipitation is light, averaging only 30 inches of snow per year. The heaviest snow month, on average, is March, with 6.0 inches of snow.  The fact that precipitation is light results in approximately 300 annual days of sunshine per year.  This is important to aircraft operators, who prefer visual flight conditions over instrument conditions and the minimization of delays that result from clear skies.

Based Aircraft