Finschhafen Airport: Difference between revisions

Finschhafen Airport
Finschhafen Airport
	IATA: FIN; ICAO: none;
Summary
Airport type	Public
Location	Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea
Elevation AMSL	33 ft / 10 m
Coordinates	06°37′20.25″S 147°51′14.81″E / 6.6222917°S 147.8541139°E
Runways
	Source: World Aero Data [1]

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Revision as of 17:01, 13 January 2009

Finschafen Airfield (Dreger Field)

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Location of Finschafen Airfield (Dreger Field), New Guinea

Finschhafen Airport is a general aviation airport in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. (IATA: FIN). It is located on the south-east tip of Huon Peninsula at Finschafen. A half mile inland, parallel to Schneider Harbor, with Dregerhaffen to the south-east. It has no scheduled commercial airline service.

History

The airport was built during World War II in late 1943 by the United States Army 807th and 808th Aviation Engineer Battalions which constructed a 6,000' x 100' coral and steel matting single runway running NNW to SSE. The tower was code named 'Harvest'. In mid-November 1943, US Navy Seabees preformed rough grading on the northern end of the strip, and crushed coral for the entire area. On 5 January the 808th departed, and the Seabee 60th Battalion completed the airfield, building fighter and medium bomber hardstands, mostly located to the north, with more to the east and a few on the southern side of the runway. Many aircraft shipped from the United States were assembled at Finschafen and then flown to other airfields for operations.

Allied units assigned to Finschhafen

86th Fighter Wing (1 May-1 Aug 1944)
8th Fighter Group (23 Dec 1943-20 Feb 1944)

Headquarters, 35th, 36th Fighter Squadrons, P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt

49th Fighter Group (19 Apr-17 May 1944)

Headquarters, 7th Fighter Squadron, P-40 Warhawk

348th Fighter Group (16 Dec 1943-29 Mar 1944)

Headquarters, 340th, 341st, 342d Fighter Squadrons, P-47 Thunderbolt

317th Troop Carrier Group (Apr-Jun 1944)

Headquarters, 319th Troop Carrier Squadron, C-47 Skytrain

22d Troop Carrier Squadron, (375th Troop Carrier Group), C-47 Skytrain
8th Combat Cargo Squadron, (2d Combat Cargo Group), C-46 Commando

418th Night Fighter Squadron, (380th Bombardment Wing), (28 Mar-12 May 1944)

At the war's end, millions of dollars of equipment both new and used was bulldozed into a huge holes in the area and abandoned.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
www.pacificwrecks.com

External Links

This article about an Oceanian airport is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This Papua New Guinea–related geography article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Infobox Airport
-{{Location map|Papua New Guinea|label=Finschafen Airfield (Dreger Field)|marksize=6|mark=Red_pog.svg|lat_dir=S|lat_deg=06|lat_min=37|lat_sec=20.25|lon_dir=E
+| name         = Finschhafen Airport
-|lon_deg=147|lon_min=51|lon_sec=14.81|position=right|width=300|float=right|caption=Location of Finschafen Airfield (Dreger Field), New Guinea}}
+| nativename   =
-'''Finschhafen Airport''' is an airport in Morobe Province, [[Papua New Guinea]]. {{airport codes|FIN}}.
+| nativename-a =
+| nativename-r =
+| image        =
+| image-width  =
+| caption      =
+| IATA         = FIN
+| ICAO         =
+| FAA          =
+| LID          =
+| type         = Public
+| owner        =
+| operator     =
+| owner-oper   =
+| city-served  =
+| location     = Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea
+| elevation-f  = 33
+| elevation-m  =
+| coordinates  = {{Coord|06|37|20.25|S|147|51|14.81|E|type:airport}}
+| website      =
+| metric-elev  =
+| metric-rwy   =
+| r1-number    = 03/21
+| r1-length-f  = 5200
+| r1-length-m  =
+| r1-surface   = Asphalt
+| stat-year    =
+| stat1-header =
+| stat1-data   =
+| stat2-header =
+| stat2-data   =
+| footnotes    = Source: World Aero Data [http://www.world-airport-codes.com/papua-new-guinea/finschhafen-2313.html]
+}}
+{{Location map|Papua New Guinea|label=Finschafen Airfield (Dreger Field)
+|marksize=6|mark=Red_pog.svg
+|lat_dir=S|lat_deg=06|lat_min=37|lat_sec=20.25
+|lon_dir=E|lon_deg=147|lon_min=51|lon_sec=14.81
+|position=right|width=300|float=right|caption=Location of Finschafen Airfield (Dreger Field), New Guinea}}
+'''Finschhafen Airport''' is a general aviation airport in Morobe Province, [[Papua New Guinea]]. {{airport codes|FIN}}.  It is located on the south-east tip of Huon Peninsula at Finschafen. A half mile inland, parallel to Schneider Harbor, with Dregerhaffen to the south-east. It has no scheduled commercial airline service.
 ==History==
+The airport was built during [[World War II]] in late 1943 by the [[United States Army]] 807th and 808th Aviation Engineer Battalions which constructed a 6,000' x 100' coral and steel matting single runway running NNW to SSE. The tower was code named 'Harvest'. In mid-November 1943, US Navy Seabees preformed rough grading on the northern end of the strip, and crushed coral for the entire area. On 5 January the 808th departed, and the Seabee 60th Battalion completed the airfield, building fighter and medium bomber hardstands, mostly located to the north, with more to the east and a few on the southern side of the runway.  Many aircraft shipped from the United States were assembled at Finschafen and then flown to other airfields for operations.
+===Allied units assigned to Finschhafen ===
+* 86th Fighter Wing		        		(1 May-1 Aug 1944)
+* [[8th Fighter Wing|8th Fighter Group]]		(23 Dec 1943-20 Feb 1944)
+: Headquarters, 35th, 36th Fighter Squadrons, [[P-40 Warhawk]], [[P-47 Thunderbolt]]
+* [[49th Fighter Wing|49th Fighter Group]]		(19 Apr-17 May 1944)
+: Headquarters, 7th Fighter Squadron, [[P-40 Warhawk]]
+* [[108th Air Refueling Wing|348th Fighter Group]]	(16 Dec 1943-29 Mar 1944)
+: Headquarters, 340th, 341st, 342d Fighter Squadrons, [[P-47 Thunderbolt]]
+* [[317th Airlift Group|317th Troop Carrier Group]]	(Apr-Jun 1944)
+: Headquarters, 319th Troop Carrier Squadron, [[C-47 Skytrain]]
+* 22d Troop Carrier Squadron, (375th Troop Carrier Group), [[C-47 Skytrain]]
+* 8th Combat Cargo Squadron, (2d Combat Cargo Group), [[C-46 Commando]]
+* [[418th Night Fighter Squadron]], (380th Bombardment Wing), (28 Mar-12 May 1944)
+At the war's end, millions of dollars of equipment both new and used was bulldozed into a huge holes in the area and abandoned.
 ==See also==