RAAF Base Townsville
|
RAAF Base Townsville Townsville Airport |
|||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military/Public | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | RAAF Garbutt/Townsville Airport Pty Ltd. |
||||||||||||||
| Location | Townsville, Queensland | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 18 ft / 5 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 19°15′12″S 146°45′54″E / 19.25333°S 146.76500°ECoordinates: 19°15′12″S 146°45′54″E / 19.25333°S 146.76500°E | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
 YBTL
|
|||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart
|
|||||||||||||||
RAAF Base Townsville (IATA: TSV, ICAO: YBTL) (formerly RAAF Base Garbutt) is a Royal Australian Air Force base which houses a squadron of light transport aircraft, and is used for training purposes by combat aircraft. It is also headquarters for No. 1 Wing Australian Air Force Cadets and, along with Lavarack Barracks, establishes Townsville as a key military centre. Located in the Townsville suburb of Garbutt, 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) west of the city, the base is shared with Townsville Airport.
The RAAF Base Townsville symbol is that of a brolga, superimposed upon a castle; surrounded by the words Royal Australian Air Force; surmounted by a crown; with the motto "Guarding the North" on parchment below it.
RAAF Base Townsville was first established in the late 1930s for civil aviation, and was then further developed as part of Australia's military preparations for the coming war. Plans were being drawn up for the RAAF base well before the commencement of hostilities in Europe, and the field was fully operational with a squadron of fighter aircraft in service fourteen months before Japan entered the war. The base still functions with many of its early buildings performing their original purpose nearly 70 years after their plans were first drawn up.
The municipality of Townsville was created in 1866, but it took in only a small area encircling Castle Hill. The land which now comprises RAAF Base Townsville became part of the new Thuringowa Division (later Shire) in 1879, and was first surveyed in an extension of the Townsville urban survey in 1884. In 1918 the local government boundary changed, and the land was incorporated into the City of Townsville.
...
Wikipedia