Lae Airfield
Lae Airfield | |
|---|---|
| Part of Fifth Air Force | |
Located in Oro Province, Paupa New Guinea
  Lae Airfield Lae Airfield (Papua New Guinea)
| |
| Coordinates | 06°43′59″S 146°59′45″E / 6.73306°S 146.99583°E[1] |
| Type | Civilian/Military Airfield |
| Site information | |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1930s (prewar airport) |
| In use | 1942–1945 |
Lae Airfield is a former World War II airfield and later, civilian airport located at Lae Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. The airport was closed in the 1980s, in favor of Lae Nadzab Airport, which was able to accommodate larger jet aircraft. The airport was known as Lae Drome or Lae Aerodrome
History
The airport was built in 1927 and was an operating airport until 1977. The airport construction resulted in Lae becoming a major city in Papua New Guinea.
Post WW1
In 1921 when the military administration ended after World War 1, a gold prospector named Cecil John Levien was appointed District Officer of Morobe. On 1 January 1923 Levien acquired a mining right for the area and shortly after formed a syndicate called Guinea Gold (No Liability).[2]
In November 1927 the Guinea Gold syndicate became Guinea Airways Limited [3] and Levien arranged for the construction of the airstrip to assist the gold mine productions around Wau.[4]
WW2
In February 1942 the airfield was occupied by the Japanese and was developed into a forward airbase. As part of the Lae defences, the Japanese created many tunnels around the airport. During Japanese occupation they also upgraded the nearby Malahang runway to be used as as satellite of Lae Airfield.
In September 1943 the airfield was heavily bombed by Allied forces until its liberation in the Salamaua–Lae campaign
Post WW2
The airstrip recovered to become a significant factor in the development of post-war PNG [5]
Decommission
The old Lae airfield started losing its thunder in 1977 when Nadzab Airport, a United States Air Force base, became operational. Fierce political squabbling over the pros and cons of Lae and Nadzab continued until 1982, when, in an unsolved mystery, the Lae airport terminal was burned down.[6]
Lae airfield continued to be used by Air Niugini and other third-level airlines until 1987. It was also used as the base for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force until it was transferred to Port Moresby in 1992.[7]
First flight
The first flight into the airfield was a DH-37 flown by E. A. “Pard” Mustar. The aircraft was shipped from Essendon to Rabaul on the S.S. Melusia [8] and flown to Lae on 31 March 1927.
From 1922 to 1942 the airfield was part of a massive airlift operation to service the Bulolo goldfields and was one of the largest airlift operations in the world.[9] Junkers W34 tri-motor planes were ideal and the German Junkers aeroplanes played a major part in the exploration and development of what is today Papua New Guinea. To mine the gold required the construction on site of several 1500+ ton dredges with the heaviest part scaling over 3 tons.
Junkers W34 aircraft
The first Junkers W34 B, VH-UGZ (c/n 2601 CoR 195-crashed Wau 6/3/1930[10]), was bought disassembled in big crates to New Guinea and made its test flight on 10 April 1928. The first two G31s were called Peter and Paul, the third simply G31. This aircraft could carry two passengers and a ton of freight in the cargo compartment. In the first 19 days of operation the W34 No 1 earned gross revenue of £2,649 with field costs of £360. The second W34 was ordered on the 8th June 1928 and arrived in December. By then No 1 W34 had carried 500 passengers and 300 tons of freight. Guinea Airways eventually purchased five of these simple, rugged and honest Junkers machines unmatched at the time by any other manufacturer. The aircraft could be loaded or unloaded in 15 minutes through a large open hatch on the roof with the gantry crane above the aircraft.[11]
Amelia Earhart
The Lae airport is probably best remembered for being the point of departure in July 1937 for Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan on their flight to Howland Island. Earhart's plane disappeared near Howland Island some 19 hours after departing Lae airport.
Allied Units based at Lae Airfield
- Headquarters, 309th Bombardment Wing (1 February – 3 March 1944) B-24 Liberator
Former Airlines
- Bulolo Goldfields Air Service
- Guinea Airways
- Morlae Airlines (Port Moresby)
- Ansett Airways
- Trans Australia Airlines
- Air Niugini
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- ↑ Lae Airfield (AYLA) at Great Circle Mapper
- ↑ Kernot, C, 1999, Valuing Mining Companies: A Guide to the Assessment and Evaluation of Assets, Performance, and Prospects in Business and Economics CRC Press
- ↑ Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, (MUP), 1986 Levien, Cecil John (1874–1932)
- ↑ Lipscomb, A, McKinnon, R & Murray, J 1998 Lonely Planet
- ↑ The old Lae airport, Dec 03, 2007, Malum Nalu accessed 8 Jan 2014
- ↑ The old Lae airport, Dec 03, 2007, Malum Nalu accessed 8 Jan 2014
- ↑ The old Lae airport, Dec 03, 2007, Malum Nalu accessed 8 Jan 2014
- ↑ Melusia SS Shuncho Maru, Wrecksite.eu accessed 8 Jan 2014
- ↑ The old Lae airport, Dec 03, 2007, Malum Nalu accessed 8 Jan 2014
- ↑ Civil Aircraft Australia
- ↑ Linke, R 2006, The influence of German surveying on the development of New Guinea, Association of Surveyors of PNG. Accessed 25 January 2014.
External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
