Almaza Air Base is a Air base of the Egyptian Air Force located in Heliopolis, Cairo, Cairo Governorate. It was established as a civilian aerodrome, but was partly taken over by the British military, designated RAF Almaza. Today it is a military aerodrome of the Egyptian Air Force.
| Almaza Air Base RAF Almaza  | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arabic: مطار ألماظة | |||||||||
| Heliopolis, Cairo, Cairo Governorate in Egypt | |||||||||
 RAF Avro York MW173, the personal aircraft of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, AOC Air Command South East Asia, at Almaza in 1946. In the background are Tiger Moths of the Egyptian airline Misr Airwork. | |||||||||
  Almaza Air Base Shown within Egypt | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 30°05′40″N 031°21′35″E / 30.09444°N 31.35972°E | ||||||||
| Type | Air Base | ||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defense (Egypt) | ||||||||
| Operator | Egyptian Air Force | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1920s | ||||||||
| In use | 1920s - present | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: HEAZ | ||||||||
| Elevation | 91 metres (299 ft) AMSL | ||||||||
| |||||||||
History
edit
The aerodrome was established in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis in February 1910, when Baron Empain organised the first air meeting in Africa. The event was supervised by the Aéro-Club de France, and attracted several leading French aviators, including Hubert Latham, Henri Rougier, Jacques Balsan, Hubert Le Blon, Mme. Raymonde de Laroche, and Belgian Arthur Duray. Other entrants included Hans Grade from Germany, Frederick van Riemsdijk from the Netherlands, and Hayden Sands from the USA (although apparently not an official entrant). The only British flier, Mortimer Singer, crashed during a practice flight, breaking his leg, and was forced to withdraw.[2][3][4] The aerodrome remained active until the First World War, when the British Army built a new airfield immediately to the south-east. The original airfield site has now been completely built over, and is partially occupied by the Egyptian Military Academy.[5]
In the 1920s it was named Almaza Airport by the Egyptian government. It became the first base of the Egyptian Army Air Force (EAAF) when on 2 June 1932 the first five de Havilland Gipsy Moth trainer aircraft arrived from Hatfield Aerodrome, north of London, flown by three Egyptian and two British pilots. The EAAF became independent in 1937 and was renamed the Royal Egyptian Air Force (REAF).[6]
In December 1931 the Egyptian Parliament approved the formation of an Anglo-Egyptian company to undertake civil aviation enterprises in Egypt. The company, named Misr Airwork S.A., was empowered to establish and operate flying training schools, local passenger flights, service stations, housing, provisioning, maintenance and repair of civil aircraft, aerial photography and survey, as well as regular and occasional air transport services for carrying passengers, mail and freight.[7] By 1938 the company, based at Almaza, was flying regular scheduled flights between Cairo and Alexandria, and to Assiut, Nicosia, Haifa, and Baghdad, operating a fleet comprising a D.H. Dragon, D.H. Dragonfly, three D.H.86s and five D.H. Rapides.[8] The company became fully Egyptian-owned in 1948, was nationalized in 1949, and was renamed United Arab Airlines in 1961, and then EgyptAir in 1971.[9]
During World War II the military aerodrome was renamed RAF Almaza, becoming EAF Almaza in 1947. Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II lists the EAF, roughly circa 1948, with six squadrons, of which Nos 1 and 3-6 were all at Almaza.
In 1956, during the Suez crisis, it was bombed several times by the British. Almaza at that time had 25 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15/Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17s, four Gloster Meteor, 21 de Havilland Vampire, and ten Ilyushin Il-28s.[10]
On 5 February 1962 it witnessed the reception of Yuri Gagarin by Zakaria Mohieddin.
Royal Air Force units
editRAF Almaza was home to the following squadrons:
- No. 45 Squadron RAF between 11 July 1921 and 14 March 1922 with the Airco DH.9, Vickers Vimy & Vickers Vernon[11]
- No. 78 Squadron RAF between 20 September 1945 and 19 September 1946 with the Douglas Dakota[12]
- Detachment from No. 94 Squadron RAF between August and October 1944 with Supermarine Spitfire VB[13]
- No. 154 (Motor Industries) Squadron RAF between 11 February and 30 March 1944 with the Spitfire IX[14]
- No. 216 Squadron RAF between 15 July 1945 and 5 September 1946 with the Dakota[15]
- No. 232 Squadron RAF between 18 February and 30 March 1944 with the Spitfire IX[16]
- No. 242 (Canadian) Squadron RAF between 18 February and 30 March 1944 with the Spitfire IX[17]
- No. 243 Squadron RAF between 18 February and 30 March 1944 with the Spitfire IX[18]
- No. 318 "City of Gdańsk" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron RAF between 31 August and 10 September 1943 with the Hawker Hurricane I[19]
- Detachment No. 451 Squadron RAAF between August 1943 and April 1944 with the Spitfire IX[20]
- No. 459 Squadron RAAF between 17 and 25 February 1945 with the Martin Baltimore IV & V[20]
- No. 500 (County of Kent) Squadron AAF between 12 September and 19 October 1945 with the Baltimore V[21]
Current use
editThe base is home to:[22]
- 159 Air Division
- 99 Squadron operating Beechcraft Super King Air 200, Gulfstream III, Gulfstream IV/IVSP, Gulfstream G400 & Dassault Falcon 7X
- 533 Air Wing (159 Air Division)
- Air Navigation School operating EADS CASA C-295M & Antonov An-74T-200A
- 546 Air Wing (119 Air Division)
- 7 (VIP) Squadron operating Sikorsky S-70A-21 & AgustaWestland AW189
- 12 Squadron operating Westland Commando Mk1, Mk2B
- 18 Squadron (SAR) operating Agusta A109EMS & AgustaWestland AW139
- 21 Squadron operating S-70A-21
- Ministry of Health
- SAR Unit operating AW139, A109E, Mil Mi-17, Mi-17V-5, Beechcraft 1900D & Cessna 680
- HQ EAF
- 38 Squadron operating Beech 1900C-1
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Pilot information for Almaza Air Force Base". OurAirports. 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "Heliopolis, February 1910". The First Air Races. 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "L'Meeting de Héliopolis" (in French). 15 February 1910. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "The Heliopolis Meeting". Flight. II (68): 97–98. 5 February 1910. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "Heliopolis, February 1910". The First Air Races. 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "The Royal Egyptian Air Force". War Thunder. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "The Anglo-Egyptian Aviation Company". Flight. XXIV (1202): 35. 8 January 1932. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "Airline companies of the World". Flight. XXXIII (1531): 416. 28 April 1938. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "Directory of currently operating airlines based in Egypt: EgyptAir". airlineupdate.com. 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Cooper, Tom (11 May 2009). "Suez Crisis, 1956". acig.info. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 39.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 48.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 52.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 63.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 71.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 75.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 76.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 77.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 86.
- ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 93.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 94.
- ^ "Egypt - Air Force - Cairo/Almaza (HEAZ)". Scramble.nl. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
- Jefford, C. G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
External links
edit
- "Cairo-Almaza Air Base profile". Aviation Safety Network.
