Mactan Air Base
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mactan Air Base | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: NOP - ICAO: RPMT | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Operator | Philippine Air Force | ||
| Serves | Lapu-Lapu City | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 33 ft (11 m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 04L/22R | 10,390 | 3,167 | Concrete |
Mactan Air Base was a facility of the United States Air Force located on Mactan Island in Cebu, The Philippines.
Contents |
[edit] Location
Mactan Air Base is located on Mactan Island, off Cebu City in the province Cebu in the south central Philippines. Mactan Island is best known as being the location where the Spanish explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, lost his life during his circumnavigation of the earth.
[edit] History
Mactan Air Base began life as an emergency field for SAC bombers to recover in the event of a war. This emergency field was basically barren with only a few permanent structures and a 10,000-foot concrete runway. By 1965, the only permanent structures on the field were a Philippine Air Force (PAF) operations building-cum-airline terminal and the PAF BOQ. There was also a squadron of PAF F-86s on base.
As the Vietnam War escalated, the base was rapidly built up. At its height, it became a permanent C-130 base permanently housing at least the 772nd and 774th Troop Carrier Squadrons as well as becoming a crew rest stop for C-124 and C-133 crews to relieve congestion at Clark Air Base. The C-124 Operations Squadron was the 606th Military Airlift Support Squadron or 606th MASS. Mactan Air Base is where the USAF tested and perfected the Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System or LAPES. This system was used to offload pallets at Vietnamese bases while under fire without landing, by "extracting" the pallets with a parachute from an altitude of 20-50 ft above the ground.
[edit] Current Status
In June 1996, Mactan Air Base was renamed Benito Ebuen Air Base in honor of a Philippine Air Force Commanding General. This air base responsible for the Transport Wing of the PAF.[1]
