Royal Air Force Kuala Lumpur or more simply RAF Kuala Lumpur is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF) station in the

Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Empire, British Straits Settlements, P ...

and saw extensive use during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

. It was built and opened by the RAF in 1931.

Military

The airfield was home to: No. 52 Squadron operating Vickers Valettas, used for supply dropping to Army troops in the jungle. In 1959-1961 it was the only operational squadron in the RAF. * No. 155 Squadron operating Westland Whirlwind HC.4 helicopters. * No. 194 Squadron operating

Westland Dragonfly The Westland WS-51 Dragonfly helicopter was built by Westland Aircraft and was an Anglicised licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-51. Design and development On 19 January 1947 an agreement was signed between Westland Aircraft a ...

helicopters/re-equipped with

Bristol Sycamore The Bristol Type 171 Sycamore was an early helicopter developed and built by the helicopter division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. The name refers to the seeds of the sycamore tree, '' Acer pseudoplatanus'', which fall with a rotating moti ...

HC.14 helicopters. * No. 110 Squadron above two squadrons merged on 3 June 1959. * No. 267 Squadron operating

Douglas Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

Vickers Valetta The Vickers Valetta is a twin-engine military transport aircraft developed and produced by the British manufacturing company Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd. Developed from the Vickers VC.1 Viking compact civil airliner, it was an all-metal mid-wing m ...

, Scottish Aviation Single and Twin Pioneers (Dakota and Auster using broadcasting loudspeakers.) *

848 Naval Air Squadron 848 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It operated the Westland Sea King HC.4 helicopter and previously provided advanced flying training to pilots for the other squadrons in the Commando Helicopter Force. The s ...

(

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

) using Whirlwind helicopters. * No 656 Squadron Army Mobile Servicing Squadron servicing

Auster AOP.6 The Auster AOP.6 was a British military air observation aircraft produced by Auster Aircraft Limited to replace the numerous wartime Taylorcraft Auster aircraft then in-service. History The Auster AOP.6 (Auster Model K) was designed as a succe ...

, Auster T.7 and

Auster AOP.9 The Auster AOP.9 was a British military air observation aircraft ("Air Observation Post") produced by Auster Aircraft Limited to replace the Auster AOP.6. Design and development The Auster AOP.9 was designed as a successor to the Auster AOP.6. ...

. * The

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

41 Squadron (RNZAF) used

Bristol Freighter The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively sh ...

s. The station was handed over to

Royal Malaysian Air Force The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF, ms, Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia; TUDM; Jawi: ) was formed on 2 June 1958 as the Royal Federation of Malaya Air Force (; ). However, its roots can be traced back to the Malayan Auxiliary Air Force format ...

in 1961. During the height of the Emergency, the single

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

had the highest number of aircraft movements in the world. The station was situated about 3 miles from the town with its own swimming pool and cinema. It is commonly known to the locals as Sungai Besi Air Force Base.

Civilian

The airfield was also the site of the first civil airport,

Sungai Besi Airport RMAF Kuala Lumpur was an air base in Kuala Lumpur. It is also known as Sungai Besi Air Base, Simpang Airport, Old Airport. History It served as the main airport for Kuala Lumpur from 1952 to 1965 under the name Kuala Lumpur International Airpo ...

, which had a route to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...

(BOAC) using

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

aircraft. The airport opened in about 1957.

Malayan Airways Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

operated Dakota aircraft on domestic flights. The

Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

was greeted at the airport by the

British High Commissioner in Malaya In 1896, the post of High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States was created; the High Commissioner represented the British Government in the Federated Malay States, a federation of four British protected states in Malaya. The High Commissi ...

, Sir Donald Charles MacGillivray, when Malaya was granted independence ("

Merdeka ''Merdeka'' is a term in Indonesian and Malay which means "independent" or " free". It is derived from the Sanskrit ''maharddhika'' (महर्द्धिक) meaning "rich, prosperous, and powerful". In the Malay archipelago, this term ha ...

"). Sungai Besi Airport was in use as a civilian airport long before 1957, with Malayan Airways

Airspeed Consul The Airspeed Consul is a twin-engined light transport aircraft and affordable airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Limited. Introduced during the immediate post-war period, it was a straightforward conver ...

s and DC3's flying in and out of the airport from the late 1940s. BOAC

Argonauts The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, '' Argo'', ...

used the airport in the early 1950s, after the

Marsden Matting Marston Mat, more properly called pierced (or perforated) steel planking (PSP), is standardized, perforated steel matting material developed by the United States at the Waterways Experiment Station shortly before World War II, primarily for the r ...

runway and taxiways were replaced by asphalt. A new terminal building was built in 1957 and this may be the source of confusion as to the date the airport was opened. This building was demolished around 2004.

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

started

Super Constellation The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was also produc ...

services into the airport in 1958 and BOAC

Comets A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are ...

replaced the Britannias in 1959. The civilian airport was later replaced by

Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport ( ms, Lapangan Terbang Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah), (formerly Subang International Airport/Kuala Lumpur International Airport), often called Subang Airport or Subang Skypark, is an airport located in Subang, Petalin ...

in 1965.

References

External links

Information of RAF Kuala Lumpur
Defunct airports in Malaysia

RAF Kuala Lumpur Royal Air Force Kuala Lumpur or more simply RAF Kuala Lumpur is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station in the Federation of Malaya and saw extensive use during the Malayan Emergency. It was built and opened by the RAF in 1931. Military The air ...

1950s establishments in Malaya Royal Air Force stations of World War II in British Malaya {{Malaysia-airport-stub

Military

Civilian

See also

References

External links