Walkerton, US 🇺🇸 Closed Airport
US-10346
-
739 ft
US-IN
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 41.473701° N, -86.450798° E
Continent: NA
Type: Closed Airport
Keywords: 59IN
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| Designation | Length | Width | Surface | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
18/36 |
2000 ft | 100 ft | TURF | Active |
| Type | Description | Frequency |
|---|
The exact date of closure is not officially recorded. However, based on aeronautical charts and aerial photography, the airport was closed sometime between 1982 and 1998. It was listed as an active private airfield on the 1982 Lake Michigan Sectional Chart but was no longer depicted on subsequent charts, and 1998 aerial photos show the runway in a state of disuse.
The specific reason for the airport's closure is not publicly documented. For a small, private airfield of this nature, closure is typically attributed to common factors such as the sale of the property, the owner's retirement or death, prohibitive costs of maintenance and insurance, or a general decline in use. There is no evidence to suggest the closure was the result of a major accident, military conversion, or regulatory action.
The site of the former airport has been fully converted back to private agricultural land. Current satellite imagery shows the property is used for farming, with crops planted over the area where the runway once existed. While a very faint outline of the former turf runway can still be discerned from the air under certain conditions, all associated airport infrastructure, such as hangars, markers, or buildings, has been removed. The land is not publicly accessible.
Stuntz & Hochstetler Pines Airport was a small, privately owned airfield that served the general aviation community in the Walkerton, Indiana area. Its primary role was for recreational flying and possibly agricultural support for the surrounding farmland. The airport was operational by at least 1968 and featured a single unpaved turf runway, oriented approximately NW/SE, with a length of about 2,600 feet. Its significance was purely local, providing a facility for private pilots and their aircraft. The name suggests it was owned and operated by the Stuntz and/or Hochstetler families, which are names found in the region. The identifier 'US-10346' is a non-official designation used by some third-party databases and is not a formal ICAO code.
There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Stuntz & Hochstetler Pines Airport. The land is privately owned and actively farmed. Re-establishing an airport on the site would be prohibitively expensive and complex, requiring repurchase of the land, significant groundwork to restore the runway, and obtaining new licenses and FAA approvals. Given the availability of other public-use airports in the region, a reopening is considered highly improbable.