Taoyuan Air Base () was a

Republic of China Air Force The Republic of China Air Force, retroactively known by its historical name the Chinese Air Force and unofficially referred to as the Taiwanese Air Force, is the military aviation branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces, currently based ...

base located in

Taoyuan, Taiwan Taoyuan () is a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in northwestern Taiwan, neighboring New Taipei City to the north-east, Yilan County to the south-east, and Hsinchu County to the south-west. Taoyuan Distri ...

, southeast of Taipei's civilian

Taoyuan International Airport Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is an international airport serving Taipei and northern Taiwan. Located about west of Taipei in Dayuan District, Taoyuan, the airport is Taiwan's largest. It was also the busiest airport in Taiwan before ...

. In 2007, the site was turned over to the

Republic of China Navy The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF). The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World W ...

and was renamed to Taoyuan Naval Base.

History

The United States Air Force's 44th Fighter-Bomber Squadron operating the

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

was deployed here from 27 January to 17 February 1955 and again from 3–30 September 1955. In 1957 two RB-57A reconnaissance aircraft of the

6021st Reconnaissance Squadron The 6021st Reconnaissance Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It was discontinued on 8 December 1957. History The 6021st R ...

were based here to take part in project Heartthrob missions over the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and these were later replaced by RB-57Ds operated as part of project Diamond Lil. On 10 September 1958, as part of the U.S. response to the 1958 Quemoy Crisis, disassembled F-104A Starfighters of the 83rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron were airlifted by C-124s to Taoyuan where they were reassembled as part of ''Operation Jonah Able''. The first F-104A was operational 30 hours after arriving and by 19 September the entire squadron was operational. On December 6th 1958 the men of the 83rd FIS were relieved by the men of the 337th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron under the command of Col. James Jabara and in March 1959 the F-104s were again disassembled and loaded aboard C-124s for return to the 83rd FIS at

McClellan Air Force Base McClellan Air Force Base (1935–2001) is a former United States Air Force base located in the North Highlands area of Sacramento County, northeast of Sacramento, California. History For the vast majority of its operational lifetime, McClell ...

. The Black Cat Squadron flying U-2 surveillance aircraft was based here from 1961 to 1974. The 5th/401st Tactical Combined Wing operating F-104 Starfighters and later F-5s was also based here. In November 1965 Li Xianbin (), a defecting Chinese pilot, landed his IL-28/H-5 bomber here against the wishes of his navigator Li Caiwang () and tail gunner Lian Baosheng (). Lian committed suicide upon landing in Taiwan. Since 2013, the site has hosted the (), featuring large sculptures from contemporary artists such as

Florentijn Hofman Florentijn Hofman (born 16 April 1977) is a Dutch artist who creates playful urban installations like the ''Rubber Duck'' and the ''HippopoThames'', a 2014 installation on the River Thames in London. Life and career Hofman was born on 16 Ap ...

and Zhang Huan. In 2014, after the

Chung Cheng Aviation Museum The Chung Cheng Aviation Museum () was an aviation museum located at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Dayuan Township, Taoyuan County (now Dayuan District, Taoyuan City), Taiwan. The museum closed on March 31, 2014, to allow for planned co ...

was closed to make way for construction at Taoyuan International Airport, the 18 aircraft displayed there were moved to Taoyuan Naval Base.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taoyuan Air Base Defunct airports in Taiwan Airports in Taiwan Republic of China Air Force Military installations of the Republic of China Installations of the United States Air Force in Taiwan