RAF Kai Tak

RAF Kai Tak
IATA: HKG – ICAO: VHHH/VHKT
Summary
Airport type Military, Defunct
Operator Royal Air Force
Location Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong
Elevation AMSL 9 m / 28 ft
Coordinates 22°19′43″N 114°11′39″E / 22.32861°N 114.19417°E / 22.32861; 114.19417
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
13/31 3,390 11,122 Asphalt

RAF Kai Tak was a Royal Air Force station in Hong Kong. It was opened in 1927 and used for seaplanes. The RAF flight operated a few land based aircraft as well as having spare aircraft for naval units.

History

From 1968 to 1978 it was used by various RAF helicopter units, as well as the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force and Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps Air Unit. The RAF left Kai Tak and moved most other operations to Sek Kong Airfield.

From 1993 onwards the civilian Government Flying Service replaced Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force at Kai Tak, thus ending the RAF presence at the airport.

The apron and the old NCO Mess areas were used by the Royal Hong Kong Police Force as the Police Driving School premises for a number of years until re-sited.

Non-military users

It was the main airfield in Hong Kong housing other non-military users:

Aircraft

During the Japanese occupation from 1941-1945, Japanese A6M Zero fighters were based at Kai Tak.

A list of British aircraft stationed there:

Aircraft Type Number Dates Notes
Gloster Meteor fighter – 1962
de Havilland Vampire fighter – 1962
de Havilland Venom fighter – 1962
Fairey Flycatcher fighter 1927–?
Hawker Horsley fbomber 3 1935–1937
de Havilland Tiger Moth trainer 2 1935–1937
Chance-Vought Corsair (Fleet Air Arm) fighter 1950s
Bristol Beaufighter fighter-bomber 1950s
de Havilland Hornet fighter 1950s
Hawker Hunter fighter 1962–1967

Squadrons

Circa 1946, Short Sunderland Mk.V flying boats of No. 209 Squadron RAF (visible in the middle left of photo is 'WQ-S', one of the squadron's Sunderland) parked on land and at the seaplane anchorage of Kowloon Bay off Kai Tak. Also visible in the foreground is a Douglas Dakota Mk.I of No. 215 Squadron RAF.
1983, a Westland Wessex HC.2 of No. 28 Squadron RAF, normally based at RAF Shek Kong, taking off from Kai Tak during "SAREX '83" - a search and rescue exercise.

The Japanese were stationed at Kai Tak during World War II and extended the runway at the base.

A list of RAF units at Kai Tak:[1]

RAF detachments

Kai Tak runway

Kai Tak's first runway was a grass strip and the first tarmac, an east-west runway, was 457 metres long in 1939. A series of extensions were added over the years:

Facilities

Historic buildings

Former Headquarters Building, along Kwun Tong Road.
Air-raid shelter in the former Officers' Quarters Compound.

Several buildings of the former station remain. Three of them, built in 1934,[3] are Grade I historic buildings: the Headquarters Building, the Officers Mess and an Annex Block.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Air of Authority, RAF Kai Tak
  2. ↑ Kai Tak Airport Archived August 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Brief Information on Proposed Grade II Items. Items #365, 367, 369
  4. ↑ List of the 1,444 Historic Buildings in Building Assessment (as of 27 December 2013)
  5. ↑ "Getting to HKBU - Kai Tak Campus". Hong Kong Baptist University. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  6. ↑ 2009 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards Winners
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