Ankang Wulipu Airport 安康五里铺机场 Ānkāng Wǔlǐpù Jīchǎng | |||||||||||
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| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Location | Ankang,Shaanxi,China | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 262 m / 860 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 32°42′29″N108°55′52″E / 32.70806°N 108.93111°E /32.70806; 108.93111 | ||||||||||
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  AKA Location of airport in China | |||||||||||
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Source:[1] | |||||||||||
Ankang Wulipu Airport (Chinese:安康五里铺机场) was an airport serving the city ofAnkang inShaanxi Province,China. It was located in the town of Wuli inHanbin District, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from the city center.[1] The newAnkang Fuqiang Airport replaced the Wulipu Airport when it opened on September 25, 2020.[2]
The airport had one runway that is 1,600 meters long and 30 meters wide (class 3C), and a 1,200 square-meter terminal building.[1]
With the threat of the Empire of Japan following theManchurian Incident of 1931, GeneralYang Hucheng first built the airfield in Ankang in 1933 for preparations in the support of anticipated air force operations against Imperial Japanese military ambitions; this was the airbase whereChinese Air Force war hero ColonelGao Zhihang transited en route after receiving a new inventory ofPolikarpov I-16 fighter planes in November 1937, but was killed in a Japanese bombing attack in his next refueling stop atZhoujiakou airfield.[3][4] The airfield was deemed unsafe for use however, and was rebuilt as Wulipu in 1938, and listed as the59th Air Station of the Nationalist Air Force of China.[1][5] After theattack on Pearl Harbor, the airport was in use by theUnited States Army Air ForcesFourteenth Air Force as part of the China Defensive Campaign. The Americans called the airbaseAnkang Airfield, and flew photo-reconnaissance aircraft from the airport over Japanese-held territory on intelligence gathering combat missions between April and August 1945. In addition,P-61 Black Widow night interceptor aircraft provided protection against night Japanese bomber and fighter attacks from April until the end of the war in September. The Americans closed their facilities at the airport in early October 1945.[6]
Civil flights first started in the 1964 but ceased in 1986. The airport was expanded to its current size in 1993 and served civil flights again from 1995 until July 2001, when the opening of the Xi'an-Ankang Railway forced the airport to close again. Flights resumed for the third time in April 2006.[1]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Previously:1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers" (Dec 1941-July 1942)China Air Task Force (July 1942-Mar 1943) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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