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Stapleton International Airport, 1966 - 2006
Some photos courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Edited by David Barth 24 January 1995. Photos credits as noted.
On February 25, 1995, George Hosford, Air Traffic Controller, cleared the last plane (Continental Flight 34, to London Gatwick) to depart from Stapleton International Airport, 1966 - 2006. This would also mark the end of the use of Stapleton as an airport and Continental Airlines' use of Denver as its hub.
In January 1995, the month before Stapleton closed, Carol and I decided to eat dinner at an airport restaurant. At that time in the evening, most flights had arrived and the airport and its restaurants were nearly empty. We said goodbye to what had been a great Denver airport.
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| Stapleton International Airport, January 1966. |
Note the diagonal runways that are no longer used. One has been recently closed as indicated by the "X" marks on it. These runways were removed and only north-south and east-west runways remained.
In the early days of commercial aviation, propellor airplanes were used including the Douglas DC-3, DC-6, DC-7, and Lockheed Constellation. Many of these airplanes were lighter weight than today's commercial jets and had tailwheels which are more difficult to operate in crosswinds. Runways aligned in several directions allowed these older aircraft to land and takeoff into the prevailing wind.
By the late 1960s, commercial jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8, and Convair 880 were introduced. These planes were heavier and could handle crosswinds much better.
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| United Airlines DC-6 at Stapleton International Airport, September 1966. Photo courtesy of Robert J. Boser via Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
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| United Airlines DC-8 on a training flight, executing a missed approach, with its shadow to its left, at Stapleton International Airport, January 1966. Photo courtesy Robert J. Boser via Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
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| Stapleton International Airport, 1975, showing the parallel north-south runways. |
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| Stapleton International Airport, 1985, showing a Ports of Call Convair 880 at the right, with the blue and yellow tail. |
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| Two Convair 580 Aspen Airlines turboprop aircraft at Stapleton International Airport, 1986. Photo courtesy RuthAS, Lancashire, England via Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
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| Stapleton International Airport, Denver, October 1992, three years before it closed in 1995. |
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| Stapleton International Airport, June 1993. Photo courtesy US Geological Survey via Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
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| Stapleton International Airport, January 1995 prior to it closing. Photo by David Barth. |
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| Stapleton International Airport, January 1995 prior to it closing. Photo by David Barth. |
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| Stapleton International Airport, January 1995 prior to it closing. Photo by David Barth. |
Photo by David Barth.
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| Stapleton International Airport, January 1995 prior to it closing.Photo by David Barth. |
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| Stapleton International Airport, January 1995 prior to it closing. Photo by C. Mikesh. |
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| Here I am standing on a moving walkway in Stapleton International Airport, 1995, without having purchased a ticket. There were no security issues. There was more freedom. Photo by C. Mikesh. |
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| Stapleton International Airport Control Tower, 1995. Photo courtesy L.T. Hanlon via Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
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| Stapleton International Airport, February 2006. |
Stapleton was closed in 1995, and contractors were beginning to remove runways and to build homes and commercial buildings on the site.