Point Lonely Short Range Radar Site

Point Lonely Short Range Radar Site

 

IATA: LNIICAO: PALNFAA LID: AK71
Point Lonely SRRS
Location of airstrip in Alaska, United States
Summary
Airport type Military
Owner U.S. Air Force
Location North Slope Borough, Alaska
Elevation AMSL 17 ft / 5 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
7/25 5,000 1,524 Gravel
Statistics (1977)
Aircraft operations 15,500
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Point Lonely Short Range Radar Site (IATA: LNIICAO: PALNFAA LID: AK71) is a United States Air Force Short Range Radar Site located in the North Slope Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, 84 miles (135 km) east-southeast of Point Barrow, Alaska. It is not open for public access.[1]

Contents

Facilities and aircraft

The facility contains a rough airstrip at an elevation of 17 feet (5 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 7/25 with a gravel surface measuring 5,000 by 100 feet (1,524 x 30 m). For the 12-month period ending July 12, 1977, it had 15,500 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 42 per day.[1]

History

The airstrip was built in 1957 to support the Distant Early Warning Line radar station at Point Lonely (POW-1). The station was logistically supported by the Point Barrow Main DEW Line Station (POW-MAIN). It was operated by civilian contract workers. DEW Line operations ceased in October 1990, and the personnel were relieved from their duties.

The radar station was upgraded with new radars and in 1994 was re-designated part of the North Warning System (NWS) as a Short Range Radar Site, A-18, equipped with an minimally attended AN/FPS-124 surveillance radar. In 1998 Pacific Air Forces initiated "Operation Clean Sweep", in which abandoned Cold War stations in Alaska were remediated and the land restored to its previous state. The site remediation of the radar and support station was carried out by the 611th Civil Engineering Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, and remediation work was completed by 2005.

The site is controlled by the Pacific Air Forces 611th Air Support Group, based at Elmendorf. The airstrip remains open to provide contractor support access to the military radar site.

See also

References

United States Air Force portal
Military of the United States portal

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

  1. ^ a b c FAA Airport Master Record for AK71 (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 11 February 2010.

External links