Kahuku Army Airfield
Kahuku Army Air Field
.svg) |
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|---|---|
| Part of Seventh Air Force | |
| Oʻahu, Hawaii | |
| Coordinates | 21°42′15″N 157°58′02″W / 21.70417°N 157.96722°W (Approximate) |
| Type | Military airfield |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
Kahuku Army Air Field is a former wartime airfield in Hawaii. It was located in the northern part of the Island of Oʻahu.
Possibly developed as an emergency field dating to the 1930s, but it was not until the United States entered World War II that the airfield was developed. Kahuku Army Air Field was classified as an auxiliary field and had a very short life span, from 1942 until it was closed in the late 1940s.
Ground troops were stationed in the area to protect the airfield and man the shoreline fortifications. The northern tip of Oʻahu had three airfields in close proximity during World War II. The Kahuku Point Airfield was located near the tip of Kahuku Point, and was evidently the most elaborate.
The Kahuku Army Airfields were used for training of pilots from Wheeler Army Air Field for instrument flying on different types of aircraft. The airfield was ideal for training because it had a good approach, runway length, and take off clearance. This field was not over populated like Hickam or Wheeler. It is documented that the 18th Air base Group, 47th Pursuit Squadron was stationed there along with B-24s and B-17s that were based at Kahuku for short periods of time during World War II. At the end of World War II, the 27th Bombardment Squadron used the airfield for training with B-24's until March 1946. Afterwards the USAAF closed the airfields and returned the Kahuku property to its owners.
No airfields at Kahuku were depicted on the October 1954 Hawaiian Islands Sectional Chart. In the early 1960s prior to the opening of the Campbell Race Course, the Kahuku airfield runways were used for both drag racing and the first Hawaii Grand Prix sports car race.
At some point between 1954-77 the former Kahuku Point airfield was apparently reused as a private civil airfield. It was depicted as having a single 2,700-foot (820 m) hard-surface runway.
Very little remains of the three Kahuku airfields. The Turtle Bay Resort golf courses absorbed two of the runways. This site is typical of a former airfield converted into a golf course. The long runways are ideal for golf fairways.
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