Departure
90%
vs 95% ▼ 5
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kalaeloa Airport (PHJR/JRF), also known as John Rodgers Field, is a joint civil-military general aviation reliever airport at Kapolei in West Oahu, Hawaii, built on the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point. With three long, wide runways inherited from its 1942 military origins, it is a popular base for touch-and-go training, Coast Guard operations and transient general aviation traffic, and offers a large, historically rich alternative to the busier Daniel K. Inouye International Airport a short distance to the east.
Kalaeloa Airport, carrying the historic designator JRF for John Rodgers Field, sits on the site of the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point at Kapolei on the leeward, southwestern tip of Oahu. It is owned and operated by the Hawaii Department of Transportation as a general aviation reliever for Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), and today hosts a mix of Coast Guard aircraft, Hawaii National Guard units, flight training and general aviation movements. For the visiting sim pilot it offers three substantial, well-lit military-heritage runways, relatively light traffic compared with HNL, and a distinctive slice of Pacific aviation history including a link to Solar Impulse 2's round-the-world flight.
The airport lies in West Oahu at Kapolea, nestled between the communities of Ewa Beach, Kapolei and Campbell Industrial Park, roughly 8 nautical miles west of Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and about 12 nautical miles west of downtown Honolulu. Approach and departure control in the area is provided by Honolulu Approach/Departure, and the field itself has its own control tower for local traffic.
Kalaeloa has three paved, lit hard-surfaced runways aligned 04/22 (two parallel strips) and 11/29. The 04R/22L runway is the longest, with recorded lengths of 7,991 ft (2,436 m) and 8,329 ft (2,538 m) at its two ends; the parallel 04L/22R runway is recorded at 4,514 ft (1,376 m) and 8,325 ft (2,538 m); and the 11/29 runway is recorded at 6,978 ft (2,128 m) and 7,301 ft (2,226 m). All are hard-surfaced and lit, and there is no ILS. Field elevation is 20 ft.
Kalaeloa is served by a control tower and the following published frequencies: Approach/Departure (Honolulu App/Dep) on 118.3 MHz, ATIS on 119.8 MHz, Clearance Delivery on 121.7 MHz, Ground on 123.8 MHz, and Tower/CTAF sharing 132.6 MHz. There is no instrument landing system at the field.
Air traffic control functions operate from 0600 to 2200 daily, with the airport remaining available as an alternate around the clock and maintaining full daily fire-fighting cover. Kalaeloa is heavily used for touch-and-go circuit training by the Hawaii Community College Flight Program and other general aviation operators, so pilots should expect a busy training circuit environment, particularly given the length and width of the runways.
The airport is bordered by the communities of Ewa Beach, Kapolei and Campbell Industrial Park, which make useful landmarks when inbound from the east or north. It is also signposted from Interstate H-1 at Exit 2, giving a ground reference for the field's position relative to the main Oahu highway corridor.
The runways at Kalaeloa date from 1942 and were built as part of Naval Air Station Barbers Point, named for the Barbers Point promontory. The Navy named the airfield John Rodgers Field after Commander John Rodgers, who made the first attempt to fly from San Francisco to Hawaii in 1925, and the Hawaii Department of Transportation retained the JRF designator when it took over the site. NAS Barbers Point was home to Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol squadrons of Patrol Wing Two and SH-60B Seahawk helicopters of Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron Light 37, both of which relocated to Marine Corps Base Hawaii (Kaneohe Bay) when the base closed under Base Realignment and Closure action in the late 1990s. The Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, flying HC-130H Hercules and HH-65 Dolphin aircraft, remained as the continuing military aviation presence. The State of Hawaii accepted 757 acres of the former base as Kalaeloa Airport on 1 July 1999, replacing the Ford Island Naval Auxiliary Landing Field, which closed the previous day. Four airport buildings, the control tower (Building 4), Hangars 110 and 111, and the former torpedo assembly and maintenance building (115), are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Mokulele Airlines operated the field's first-ever scheduled airline service to Kahului Airport on Maui from July 2014 until ending it in September 2016. On 3 July 2015 Solar Impulse 2 landed at Kalaeloa after completing the longest non-stop solo fixed-wing flight in history.
Kalaeloa remains a general aviation reliever airport for Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, used by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Hawaii Community College Flight Program, the Hawaii National Guard and the wider general aviation community, with major touch-and-go training activity. The control tower operates from 0600 to 2200 daily, and the field is available as an alternate around the clock with full daily fire-fighting capability. Recent improvements have included a new airfield lighting system, partial runway paving, emergency power systems, and upgraded fire-fighting and communications equipment, and further development plans include new T-hangars, refurbishment of the historic Hangar 110, and improvements to the terminal and control tower building.