Kingsfield Airfield

Kingsfield Airfield
Hercules XV209 crashes into the side of a hangar
IATA: none ICAO: LCRE
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Army Air Corps
Location	Cyprus
Built	1960s
Elevation AMSL	88 m / 290 ft
Coordinates	35°00′53″N 33°43′02″E
Map
LCRE Location in Cyprus
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 06/24 4,068 1,240 Asphalt

Kingsfield Airfield (nicknamed Noddy Land) (ICAO: LCRE) is a small airfield located in the Eastern Sovereign Base Area of Cyprus. No. 16 Flight AAC which operated Westland Gazelle AH.1 helicopters was based here at Kingsfield Airfield.

History

Kingsfield Airfield was opened in 1960s by the British Army's Army Air Corps, an opening ceremony was held with a English Electric Canberra Bomber flyover and 33 Field Squadron Land Rovers emerging from the back of a Blackburn Beverley aircraft operated by the No. 47 Squadron RAF. The airfield earned the nickname Noddy Land as people stationed there only had morning shifts because of the afternoons being too hot. The airfield served as an emergency landing-strip.

Runaway Hercules

In September 1972, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft was left with one engine running during mid-unloading. During the time, the crew left the loadmaster in the cockpit to join an ice-cream queue. Due to a mistake, the brake pressure dropped causing the aircraft to taxi itself towards a nearby hangar. This resulted in considerable damage to the nose, in which the aircraft was tested with a touch-and-go maneuver to decide if it would be scrapped or not. Later on, C1 XV209 was prepared to be able to fly to RAF Akrotiri for full repairs.

In the late 1980s, Kingsfield Airfield made headlines as the RAF conducted trials of 'desert pink' paint on aircraft at the base which made aircraft ‘invisible’ during flight. These trials became successful and was used on numerous RAF aircraft during the Gulf War of 1991.

Crusasers Gliding Club

In the 1960s, the Crusaders Gliding Club was established at the airfield. The club used the two former RAF hangars for aircraft storage and maintenance on the southwestern side of the airfield, and also operated a fleet of 1 Scheibe Falke, 1 Slingsby T.21, 2 ASK 13s, 1 Schleicher K 8, and 1 Schleicher ASK 18. It operated there until 29th February 2012, when it was shut down due to the Airspace Rules set by the Cypriot Air Authorities.

Present

As of now, Kingsfield Airfield opens to recreational flight by the Cyprus Skydive Association on the weekends, and continues military operations on weekdays.