The Shek Kong Airfield (ICAO: VHSK), formerly Royal Air Force Station Sek Kong or Sek Kong Airfield, is an airfield (

airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

) located in

Shek Kong Shek Kong is an area north of Tai Mo Shan, located near Kam Tin and Pat Heung, in Yuen Long District, New Territories, Hong Kong. Shek Kong Airfield is located in Shek Kong. A sizable Nepal Gurkha population is present in the area even after the ...

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. The base currently houses air force units of

People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison The People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison is a garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), responsible for defence duties in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) since the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to ...

(PLAHKG), as well as being open for restricted civilian use during weekends.

Royal Air Force history

Before the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

handover of Hong Kong Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the British Hong Kong, former colony. Hong Kong was establ ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1997, the airfield was used by the

British Forces Overseas Hong Kong British Forces Overseas Hong Kong comprised the elements of the British Army, Royal Navy (including Royal Marines) and Royal Air Force stationed in British Hong Kong. The Governor of Hong Kong also assumed the position of the commander-in-c ...

, and was then a

Royal Air Force station The Royal Air Force (RAF) operates several stations throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. This includes front-line and training air bases, support, administrative and training stations with no flying activity, unmanned airfields used fo ...

, officially known as Royal Air Force Station Sek Kong, commonly abbreviated RAF Sek Kong. Construction started in , and was completed only in , due to the intervention of the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surr ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. From 1989, to 1993, RAF Sek Kong was also a Vietnamese Refugee Detention Centre. It is currently used by the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

(PLA) during the week but, during weekends, members of the Hong Kong Aviation Club (HKAC) are allowed to use the airport facilities for operation of private aeroplanes and to conduct private

flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

. At RAF Sek Kong, the

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 ...

operated a small force of a single

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

from 1950 to 1996. It was a permanent assignment, with personnel and their families living in Sek Kong for three-year tours of duty. The

Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force (RHKAAF) was a Hong Kong Government department based in Hong Kong. It was formed as an air force in 1949 as part of the Hong Kong Defence Force. In preparation for the transfer of sovereignty from the Uni ...

(RHK AuxAF) was also a permanent air force unit in

. A partial list of

RAF squadrons Squadrons are the main form of flying unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF). These include Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) squadrons incorporated into the RAF when it was formed on 1 April 1918, during the First World ...

stationed at RAF Sek Kong before 1997: *

No. 80 Squadron RAF No. 80 Squadron RAF was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force squadron active from 1917 until 1969. It was operative during both World War I and World War II. Establishment and early service Founded on 1 August 1917 at RAF Montrose, equipped ...

: 3 January – 1 February 1950, 7 March – 28 April 1950 * No. 28 Squadron RAF: 1 May – 7 October 1950, 28 March 1951 – 15 August 1955, 5 December 1955 – 14 June 1957, 17 May 1978 – 1 November 1996 *

1979–1993 A list of RAF aircraft stationed at RAF Sek Kong: With a Vietnamese refugee camp using the runway from 1989 to 1993, the base hosted only helicopters after 1989 until the runway was reinstated in 1995. However, no fixed wing aircraft of the RAF used the runway before the base was closed in 1996. RAF Sek Kong Jul 1983.jpg, RAF Sek Kong 1983 Wessex Sek Kong.jpg,

Westland Wessex The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34 (in US service known as Choctaw). It was developed and produced under licence by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters). One of the main changes ...

of No. 28 Squadron RAF 660 Sqn Scout 1983 Ping-Chau.jpg,

Westland Scout The Westland Scout is a light helicopter developed by Westland Helicopters. Developed from the Saro P.531, it served as a land-based general purpose military helicopter, sharing a common ancestor and numerous components with the naval-orientat ...

No. 660 Squadron AAC No. 660 Squadron AAC (660 Sqn) is a squadron of the British Army's Army Air Corps (AAC). The squadron traces its lineage to a Royal Air Force squadron that existed during the Second World War. In the late 1950s the squadron's numerical was transf ...

RHKAAF Dauphin.jpg, Dauphin of RHKAAF

British Army

The

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

also operated a squadron of

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s at RAF Sek Kong from 1970 until 1993, performing observation /

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

and troop-lifting roles on the Hong Kong to mainland Chinese border, and supporting the army on exercises. The

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

(AAC) unit was heavily involved in stemming the flood of illegal immigrants from mainland China.

operated from 1978 until the end of 1993. The AAC squadron, 50 years old at the time, was the last overseas unit using

helicopters. ;Support equipment

Refugee camp, 1989–1993

From 1989, the base was also a refugee centre for

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

boat people arriving in Hong Kong. At the peak in 1992, the centre hosted 9,000 refugees. During the time as a refugee centre, half the runway was closed and used for temporary housing (mainly tents, and some

quonset Quonset may refer to: Places * Quonset Point, a peninsula in North Kingstown, Rhode Island ** Naval Air Station Quonset Point ** Quonset State Airport ** Rhode Island Route 403, signed as Quonset Freeway * Quonset Glacier, a glacier in Antar ...

huts). As a result, only rotary aircraft operated from the base. The refugee centre closed in 1993 and the runway was restored for use by fixed wing aircraft.

PLAAF base, 1997–present

The PLAAF has had a small presence in

since 1997. There is one PLA unit stationed in Shek Kong: *

PLAAF Helicopter Regiment 39968 The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an Air force, aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular army, regular ...

** Hong Kong Special Aviation Unit — transport The PLA ground and naval forces also use Shek Kong, mainly for training and Open Day use. With the PLAAF operating helicopters, the runway is mostly used for civilian fixed wing aircraft. There are four 'H's marked along the runway for the

Harbin Z-9 The Harbin Z-9 ( NATO reporting name "Haitun", for Dolphin) is a Chinese military utility helicopter with civilian variants. It is a licensed variant of the French Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, and is manufactured by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturin ...

Bs to land, and avoided the need to create helipads at the base.

Private use

Whilst still under Royal Air Force operation, the Hong Kong Aviation Club (HKAC), Hong Kong's private recreational flying organisation, moved most of its aircraft to Shek Kong in 1994. This was after the hours for general aviation (GA) at

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...

(then the international airport for Hong Kong) were sharply reduced, to two hours per morning (07:00 to 09:00), as of 1 July that year.

References

External links

Helicopter Database - HK Sek KongHong Kong Aviation Club（HKAC)
{{Authority control Military of Hong Kong Chinese Air Force bases Shek Kong Airports in Hong Kong Military airbases established in 1950 1950 establishments in Hong Kong