Chodo Airport
| Ch'o do Airport | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: none – ICAO: none | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Serves | Ch'odo, North Korea | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 0 ft / 0 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Chodo Airport | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 초도기지 |
|---|---|
| Hancha | 椒島基地 |
| Revised Romanization | Chodo giji |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'odo kiji |
Ch'o do Airport is an airport in Ch'odo island, Hanggu-guyok, Nampo, South Pyongan Province, North Korea.
Contents
Facilities
The airfield has a single grass runway 11/29 measuring 3020 x 141 feet (920 x 43 m).[1] However, other sources state the airfield is 3500 feet long. It is sited on Ch'o do island off the west coast of North Korea in the Korea Bay.[citation needed]
History
Korean War
During the Korean War, the USAF designated the airfield as K-54, but it was often listed as incomplete or not built.[2]
An element of the USAF 3rd Air Rescue Squadron operating Sikorsky H-5s and later Sikorsky H-19s was based on the island from January 1952.[3] Cho-do was regarded as an ideal forward operating base particularly for the rescue of pilots of F-86s damaged over MiG Alley as the F-86 could usually glide to an ejection location near Chodo, often the rescue forces would have to wait for the damaged F-86 to arrive at the rescue location.[4] On 4 April 1953, an H-19 rescued Captain Joseph C. McConnell the future top-scoring US ace in Korea after he ejected from his F-86 just north of Chodo.[5] On 30 April 1953 an H-19 rescued future double-ace Captain Lonnie R. Moore after his F-86F crashed at sea north of Cho-do.[6]
In mid-February 1952 the USAF installed early-warning radar on Cho-do which could detect aircraft taking off and landing at Chinese airfields along the Yalu River. In May a tactical control center was added and this was used vector F-86s against MiG-15s[7] The base was later used for communications interception duties[8] including providing advance warning of an air attack on Taehwa-do on 30 November leading to a USAF ambush that resulted in the destruction of 12 communist aircraft.[9]
On 5 September 1952 communist artillery shelled the base, injuring 6 civilians. On 13 October the radar on Cho-do detected 6 aircraft heading towards the base, these aircraft, believed to be P0-2s dropped 14 bombs which killed 4 civilians. Similar attacks occurred on 26 November and 5 and 10 December causing minimal damage.[10] Another attack took place on 15 April 1953, killing two gunners and destroying one anti-aircraft gun.[11]
UN forces withdrew from Cho-do under the terms of the Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War on 27 July 1953.[citation needed]
References
- ↑ Landings database page "Landings.Com", accessed 25 Aug 2010
- ↑ GlobalSecurity.org "Air Bases - Ch'o-do", accessed 25 Aug 2010
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Marion, p.18-19
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Marion, p.16
- ↑ Werrell, p.104
- ↑ Werrell, p.106
- ↑ Werrell, p.108-9
- ↑ Werrell, p.110
- ↑ Werrell, p.111
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Air Force.
