CO P
Y
Part I.
१०
KAI TAK RECLARATION, HONG KONG, CHITA
as a
CIVILIAN AIR THRLINUS
Report by Flying Officer, H.R.Vaughan-Fowler, R.A.T., late Civilian Pilot, Handley Page Transport Co.Itd., London, and Instructor to The Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service,
Japall.
KAI TAK AIR CIF CMEN.
The aerodrome is situated in the .. corner of the harbour formed by the Island of Hong Kong and the Mainland.
At present the landing ground is I shaped running North and South, and East and Test parallel to the water front for roughly 600 yds. in each direction.
The prevailing winds would seem to be South East to South to West, mainly southernly. The onths observed have been from March to August 1927.
Then the reclamation at present under construction is finished, the landing area will be large enough for all types of aircraft to land and take off with ease, there being 990 yds. East and West and 650 yds. North and South.
The approaches from all directions are good, and care has been taken in the layout of the proposed permanent buildings not to block any of these.
Surrounding Country.
The surrounding country is thoroughly bad for forced landing landplanes, this applies to all directions.
To the North and East of the aerodrome is a range of hills that rise 2,000 ft. in places, these are within a distance of two to two and a half miles, the ground starts to rise slowly for some distance as soon as the reclamation is left.
This means that a machine taking off in a direction between N.W. and E.S.2. must turn soon after leaving the bounds of the aerodrome.
To the West there is Kowloon City, this is not serious as the buildings are all on low ground and can be cleared with ease.
To the South there is the harbour and several miles away the Island of Tong Tong.
It will be noted that the short way of the aerodrome is Worth and South, and that the worst surrounding country is in these directions, but I consider that with modern commercial air craft this should not cause undue risks to be taken, and as the prevailing winds are southernly the get-away is mostly over water with a clear run ahead, so as modern machines are so reliable it would seem that conditions are not bad.
Surface and Buildings.
The surface of the aerodrome should be very good, the reclamation is being made of sand that settles into a solid and firm mass.
Owing to the sandy nature of the ground water soon filters away or drains off the surface, leaving the top Cry and free from excessive mud.
However, as the rains are so very heavy in this part of the world, this natural drainage should most certainly be