[Closed] Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport

Didn't Concorde land there a few times? 😯

I went via Kai Tak a few times. Seemed OK until you looked out of the window and saw all the washing lines and apartments either side, went on for ages.

It did Zokes and I have no idea how. Its something like a 70 degree turn just before you hit the mountain and are about 150-200ft and then down on the runway which usually had ferocious cross winds blowing across it.

Hard enough in a 747 but something like Concorde with interesting low speed handling characteristics must have been quite something

Hard enough in a 747 but something like Concorde with interesting low speed handling characteristics must have been quite something

Quite mind boggling skill of the pilots I guess!

Flew into Kai Tak a few times and it was certainly memorable.

Used to be able to see the planes banking over Kowloon Tsai park form the balcony of my parents flat.

Yes a few times. It's was fun in a masochistic kind of way!!!!

I used to work there back in the late 70's - great fun

yeah was "lucky" to fly in and out just before the new airport opened and as someone who use to fly alot for work it was and still is the most bonkers landing and take off ive ever done 😯

I blagged a seat in the cockpit for it once. Yikes.

@thepurist - ah, those were the days when you go up on the flight deck.

Did the pilot ask you about Turkish Baths?

Did the pilot ask you about Turkish Baths?

🙂

I was working for NATS doing some research work in air traffic management, so had flashed my credentials to the stewardess and she managed to get me up there during the flight. Had a good chat with the reserve crew and asked about getting up there for the landing, but they had to check with the captain. I'd just decided it wasn't going to happen when another stewardess came and showed me up into the first class cabin then into the cockpit for the last few minutes of the flight.

I'm at the replacement right now. It's excellent, but nowhere near as exciting to come in to.

Lived in HK as a kid at Elizabeth court at the back of Lion Rock. The planes would come over crazy low!! You could for a bit, bust your way up onto the roof, until the Feds realised and put in bigger locks, I swear you could've touched some of them as they came over.

Monsoon season was always fun it was like a spectator sport with popcorn and lemonade down on the water front near the mai-fu flats!

My office overlooks the old runway, its being turned into a cruise liner terminal now.
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Would have loved to have had a chance to land in the old airport, though in fairness the new airport is really good.

Stewartc, forgot you were out there! Must drop you a line on my next trip!

Staring out of my lounge window at the airport now, give us a wave!

Staring at the new one? Am in the Wing, with rum, and waving back!

When I was young. I remember looking into apartments and seeing TV screens quite clearly. Might be my memory tricking me though.

Blimey, some good skills in that video!

Was there a arrow on the hillside to remember the pilots to turn!!!

Flew out of it once. Train from Berlin to Moscow, Moscow to Peking, trains in China, internal flights in China (back in the day when they flew second hand 707s) and ferry from Canton meant I avoided flying in.

We lived out there in the early '90's and flew in and out of it many times. Spent a couple of years working on Chek Lap Kok as well before we came back to Blighty 🙁

Hard enough in a 747 but something like Concorde with interesting low speed handling characteristics must have been quite something

My father used to fly Concorde, whilst i've not really chatted much to him about his career (should do really) I have asked him about scary moments in light of the AF incident.

He said landing at Hong Kong was 'f*cking frightening', for someone who doesn't swear much I imagine there were a lot of brown trouser moments.

jordie - Member
Was there a arrow on the hillside to remember the pilots to turn!!!

There wasn't an arrow but they did have a huge orange and white checker board on the hill side which they flew the aircraft directly at then when they reached a certain distance they would turn 47 degrees to the right and hopefully the runway would be directly ahead.

It was an amazing airport, the views into apartments was different. Now I have seen the video I didn't realise how much the plane had to bank

Flew in once (thankfully not on a Korean jet!). It was fun, watching the locals TVs as you went past their apartments was fun!

I flew in there in 96 for a 6 month posting. Funnily enough only yesterday I found a Mad Dogs souvenir rugby shirt whilst having a clear out. Had some great nights there. And in Jump, Jousters, The Big Apple, Joe Banana's etc etc ..... great city!

Flew into Kai Tak upstairs in Qantas club 8) then some years later into Chek Lap Kok in BA economy 😐

Many times and heard a few good stories from a pilot who flew in there a lot. A good mate of mine used to be in the British Army stationed in HK and he said the planes felt like they were low enough to touch as they came in. Did a few sessions on BA flight simulators and the instructors said it was way too difficult to attempt even on the simulator.

I much prefer the new airport, the old one used to make me rather nervous

I did back in 1997, was quite a roller coaster of a ride, but it was more memorable watching the planes fly over from the streets below, remember back then checking out some knock of software in the shops and hearing the roar and then seeing the shadow of the plane pass over the top of you!

The new airport is amazing too mind, let's face it Hong Kong is an amazing place full stop!

I've done it, don't recall it being that big a deal in the plane and I was sat at a window, I'm pretty sure we came in over the water not the buildings. However, had a few hours to kill on my departure and found an airport car park roof to sit out on with a book. watching the jumbos flying so low over the roof tops was interesting.

CF if you are over there now, check out Sky100, book a ticket a hour before sunset and enjoy 😉

I think the view from that building is better than the view from the peak, not cheap but worth doing 😉

My father in law flew in there a lot and he's got a "memory" wall at home with pictures from his time flying. The best picture is of him standing in the cowling of a 777 engine (mahoosive!)but there is a sequence of photos (about 6 I think) taken by him in the jump seat looking through the cock pit window when he was the in flight crew. It starts with a view through the cock pit at the big sign on the side of the hill and finishes with the actual landing. As the 74 is turning you can see by the horizon that the bank in the turn is incredible!

He was eventually checked out to land there but he always said that Mauritius (I think?!) was the most interesting landing. At the time, no ILS, a point of no return and no published missed approach procedures. Lots of stress apparently trying to decide whether the weather was going to be in limits.

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Went to school near the airport...sometimes after school we used to go up to the checkerboard and lie on it. Took a good few times till you could stay there rather than run away thinking the plane was going to hit. You could see the pilots faces....

Lived in HK for 3 years in the early 70s. You could reach up and tickle the under belly of the planes as they flew over. Used to sit on a hillside watching these monsters avoid all kinds off obstacles in order to land.Typhoon season made it very interesting. By the way I went to Gun Club School if any one on here remembers there time in Hk.

I landed at Kai Tak once. To be honest it didn't seem like a big deal and I had a window seat.

I was at st George's in the early 90s. We were told pilots used to use the school swimming pool to line up their approach...

There were two runways - one of which did have its approach over the water and wasn't so scary but was rarely used because the prevailing winds usually meant planes had to do the scary route.

Used to live in HK as a kid and only ever flew into Kai Tak, loved coming into it over the city but the water approach was just as interesting since you didn't see the land until you were down. My brother used to fly light aircraft in and out of Kai Tak as a member of the HK flying club and also flew in some RAF choppers from Sek Kong and said it was bonkers with all the 747s about where you're in a single engine cessna.

Out house used to overlook the runway from Hong Kong Island (Northpoint) and we could see the planes coming in over Kowloon - spent many hours watching them come in.

We even say a Lufthansa cargo plane go off the end of the run way and watch the army come in and dismantle it - first thing they did was cover up the tailplane to stop any bad press. 🙂

Garuda Airlines used to have a camera mounted beneath the nose of the aircraft and relay live pictures to the big screen. Always caused a few gasps. I work at the 'new' HK Airport, a engineering masterpiece, but lacking the character of Kai Tak.

I flew into Kai Tak in the cockpit a few times. It was common practice to dump the thrust reversers BEFORE the nose gear was down. Jeepers !

We even say a Lufthansa cargo plane go off the end of the run way and watch the army come in and dismantle it - first thing they did was cover up the tailplane to stop any bad press

Bushwacked, there was a Lufthansa cargo plane in 1983 that overshot on landing and ended up in soft ground, but was later returned to service. Then there was the China Airlines 747 that went off the end of the runway into the water in a storm in 1993. They painted out the tail markings, but a few days later the army blew the tail off anyway as it was a hazard for planes taking off! I remember seeing it semi-submerged in the harbour for a couple of months before they managed to lift it out. Wiki has the scoop - [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_605 ]here[/url]

The last incident at the old airport was an RAF Hercules that was being used to re-patriate Vietnamese boat people before the Chinese took over. Crashed on take-off with loss of all crew.

Of course China Airlines were at it again in 1999 when they had the dubious honour to be the first to crash at the new airport just a year after it opened, when an MD-11 flipped and landed upside down!

Here you go, knew there must've been a picture somewhere of the first China Airlines one...

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I work at the 'new' HK Airport, a engineering masterpiece, but lacking the character of Kai Tak.

Gate 2 needed a bit of a hoovering on Friday night, BTW.

Otherwise, it's jolly good! 🙂

Yeah - that Lufthansa was 83 - seems like yesterday.

Well this happened at the new Cek Lap Kok airport not long after it opened...

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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/88504879@N03/9591808189/ ]chek lap kok 3[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/88504879@N03/ ]wobbliscott[/url], on Flickr

Flashy, please do tell !!