New TAF coming to Plainview Hale County Airport

[NWS Lubbock - Joe]

Hi West Texas aviation subscribers!

I'm pleased to announce that the National Weather Service in Lubbock will commence issuance of the terminal aerodrome forecast for Hale County Airport (KPVW) beginning at 12Z on 25 November, 2014. 

Additional information regarding these services is available at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/tin14-33taf_plainview_tx.htm

As you may know, the Hale County airport has seen an increase in air traffic in recent years along with a number of airfield improvements as of late.  The field is a popular refueling point.  It sports two GPS approaches as well as a VOR approach with minimums as low as 300' ceilings and 1 mile.  The airport is served by an AWOS-3 which is available via 119.675 MHz or by phone at 806-291-8679.
The Hale County airport has an interesting history first being used for C-47 (DC-3) and glider training back in the 1940s with the 3rd Army Air Forces Liaison Training Detachment before being moved to Lamesa.  The field was declared surplus in 1945 and converted to a civil airport in April of 1946.  The field was frequently used for flight training by the squadrons stationed at Reese AFB until its closing in 1997.  Plainview even enjoyed scheduled airline service during the 1950s and early 60s by Pioneer, Central, and Continental Airlines.  The field also had an operating FAA control tower from some point until the early 1980s when the PATCO strike resulted in a number of closed facilities including PVW.  Today, the USAF periodically uses the airfield for flight training and the field is most frequently used by general aviation interests including a fair bit of turboprop and jet traffic.

If you have any questions or comments, please send me a note!

Airfield history pieced together from site visits, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hale_County_Airport, and http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_Lubbock.htm#reese

Joe Jurecka
Aviation Program Manager
National Weather Service
Lubbock, TX
joe.j...@noaa.gov