Flight Simulator Flights at YHID Horn Island Airport

Horn Island Airport serves the Torres Strait community from Horn Island, Queensland, and is best known to history as a heavily bombed RAAF staging base during the Second World War. Today it remains an active regional aerodrome, operated by Torres Shire Council and supporting domestic charter and scheduled services as well as international charter flights to Papua New Guinea.

Overview

Horn Island Airport, also known as Ngurupai Airport, lies on Horn Island in the Torres Strait, Queensland, and is owned and operated by Torres Shire Council. It is a hub for several regional operators, including Torres Strait Air, SkyTrans, Hinterland Aviation, Cape Air Transport and Horizon Airways, and is of particular interest to sim pilots for its remote island setting and its rich wartime history as one of the most heavily attacked airfields in Australia.

Airspace & Location

The airfield sits on Horn Island in the Torres Strait, close to Thursday Island, which lies to the north-west and historically had its own small airstrip before the larger Horn Island field was built. The location places the aerodrome in Australia's far northern Queensland, within the Torres Strait island group.

Runways

Horn Island has two physical runways. Runway 08/26 is 4,554 feet long with a hard surface and runway lighting. Runway 14/32 is 4,047 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit. The field elevation is 20 feet.

Radio & Navigation

Pilots should use the common traffic advisory frequency of 126.5 MHz. Flight service is available on 120.3 MHz, provided by Brisbane Centre. The airfield has no instrument landing system.

History

Before 1939 Thursday Island, north-west of Horn Island, had a short 450-metre airstrip that could not be extended, prompting the decision to build a larger airfield on Horn Island for both civil and military use. Construction of an advanced operational airbase began in 1940, carried out by the Civil Constructional Corps and the Department of Main Roads, and RAAF Base Horn Island was completed in 1941, serving as a staging point for Allied aircraft moving between Australia and New Guinea. The original airfield comprised two intersecting runways with revetments for aircraft parking. After Darwin, Horn Island was the second most heavily bombed area of Australia during Japanese air raids in the Second World War, with attacks recorded on 14 and 18 March 1942, 30 April 1942, 11 May 1942, 6 and 30 July 1942, 1 August 1942 and 17 June 1943. Units based there over the war included the 7th Fighter Squadron of the US 49th Fighter Group and several RAAF squadrons, among them Nos. 6, 7, 24, 32, 75 and 84 Squadrons, along with No. 28 Operational Base Unit. Several B-17 Flying Fortresses crash-landed at the airfield during the war, and in more recent history a Lockheed Hudson survey aircraft, VH-AGO, crashed on approach after an engine failure on 24 June 1957, with six fatalities. The Horn Island Veterans Memorial, designed by Vanessa Seekee OAM and Gordon Cameron OAM using local materials, stands in front of the airport commemorating the Australian and American servicemen who defended Horn Island and the Torres Strait during the war.

The Airfield Today

The airport continues to operate under Torres Shire Council, supporting domestic fixed-wing charter and scheduled services flown by SkyTrans, Hinterland Aviation, Cape Air Transport, Horizon Airways and Torres Strait Air. Torres Strait Air also operates the airfield's only international services, running charter flights to Papua New Guinea.