Almaza Air Base

Last updated
Almaza Air Base
RAF Almaza
Flag of Egypt.svg
Arabic: مطار ألماظة
Heliopolis, Cairo, Cairo Governorate in Egypt
Avro York, Almaza, Cairo 1946. Flickr.jpg
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.
Egypt adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Almaza Air Base
Shown within Egypt
Coordinates 30°05′40″N031°21′35″E / 30.09444°N 31.35972°E / 30.09444; 31.35972
TypeAir Base
Site information
Owner Ministry of Defense (Egypt)
Operator Egyptian Air Force
Site history
Built1920 (1920)s
In use1920s - present
Airfield information
Identifiers ICAO: HEAZ
Elevation91 metres (299 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
05/231,194 metres (3,917 ft)  Asphalt [1]
18/362,050 metres (6,726 ft)  Asphalt [1]

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.

Contents

History

Gagarin and Mohieddin at Almaza, 1962 Yuri Gagarin and Zakaria Mohieddin 05-02-1962 Cairo Almaza Air Base.jpg
Gagarin and Mohieddin at Almaza, 1962

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 after László Almásy. 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

1941 Cairo Map showing Almaza on the right 1941 Cairo - Egypt City Plans 1 100 000.jpg
1941 Cairo Map showing Almaza on the right

RAF Almaza was home to the following squadrons:

1958 Map of Cairo showing Almaza on the right Cairo (Egypt, 1958, city plan in scale 1 to 10 000).jpg
1958 Map of Cairo showing Almaza on the right

Current use

The base is home to: [22]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Pilot information for Almaza Air Force Base". OurAirports. 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Heliopolis, February 1910". The First Air Races. 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  3. ↑ "L'Meeting de Héliopolis" (in French). 15 February 1910. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Heliopolis Meeting". Flight . II (68): 97–98. 5 February 1910. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  5. ↑ "Heliopolis, February 1910". The First Air Races. 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "The Royal Egyptian Air Force". War Thunder. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Anglo-Egyptian Aviation Company". Flight. XXIV (1202): 35. 8 January 1932. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Airline companies of the World". Flight . XXXIII (1531): 416. 28 April 1938. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Directory of currently operating airlines based in Egypt: EgyptAir". airlineupdate.com. 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. ↑ Cooper, Tom (11 May 2009). "Suez Crisis, 1956". acig.info. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  11. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 39.
  12. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 48.
  13. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 52.
  14. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 63.
  15. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 71.
  16. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 75.
  17. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 76.
  18. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 77.
  19. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 86.
  20. 1 2 Jefford 1988, p. 93.
  21. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 94.
  22. ↑ "Egypt - Air Force - Cairo/Almaza (HEAZ)". Scramble.nl. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
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