RAF Kalyan
Appearance
RAF Kalyan | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||
Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||
Location | Kalyan, Maharashtra, India | ||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 60 ft / 20 m | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 19°10′44.41″N 073°07′0.67″E / 19.1790028°N 73.1168528°E | ||||||||||||||
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Runways | |||||||||||||||
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RAF Kalyan was a Royal Air Force station located at Nevali village 6 km south of Kalyan, operational during World War II in British India. It was the primary landing ground for the nearby city of Bombay (now Mumbai) as early as 1920,[1] much before the airfields of Juhu and RAF Santacruz were established. Several Fighter Squadrons and support units were stationed at Kalyan from 1942 to 1947.[2] The field was abandoned after the war.
Unit | Dates | Aircraft |
---|---|---|
No. 20 Squadron RAF | 1945–1946 | Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Tempest |
No. 110 Squadron RAF | March 1942 | Vultee Vengeance, de Havilland Mosquito |
No. 7110 Servicing Echelon | 30 Sep – 6 Oct 1944 | |
No. 3 Mobile Parachute Servicing Unit | 1945 – Jan 1946 | |
No 129 Staging post | 31 Jan – 7 Apr 1945 |
Current use
The site now hosts a research and development laboratory of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).[3]
See also
References
- ^ "Imperial Air Routes". FlightGlobal. 5 February 1920. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- ^ "RAF Kalyan". www.rafweb.org. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- ^ Sanjay Jog (20 January 2013). "NSA had rejected Kalyan site for Mumbai airport in 2007". Business Standard News. Retrieved 31 October 2015.