Departure
99%
vs 95% ▲ 4
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
RAAF Base Richmond is a Royal Australian Air Force station in the Hawkesbury district of New South Wales, sited between the towns of Windsor and Richmond around 50 kilometres northwest of the Sydney CBD. As the oldest air base in New South Wales and the RAAF's transport hub, it is home to the Lockheed C-130J Hercules fleet and offers a single long, lit runway with an ILS, making it a distinctive military destination for the virtual pilot exploring the Sydney basin.
RAAF Base Richmond is an active Royal Australian Air Force military air base located in the City of Hawkesbury, New South Wales. It is the home of RAAF Air Lift Group and its operational formations, Nos. 84 and 86 Wings, with the Lockheed C-130J Hercules as the principal aircraft type based there. For a simulator pilot, Richmond is of interest both as a long-serving military airfield close to Sydney and as a field with genuine history stretching back over a century, including its use as a supplementary airport for Sydney in the interwar years.
The base lies within the City of Hawkesbury, roughly 50 kilometres northwest of the Sydney Central Business District, situated between the towns of Windsor and Richmond. As a military aerodrome it sits within controlled airspace associated with Sydney Approach, and radio contact with Sydney Approach and the base's own tower and ground movement services should be expected when operating in the vicinity.
Richmond has one physical runway, 10/28, a hard surface of 6,993 feet in length. Both directions are lit, and an ILS is provided for runway 28.
Richmond's published frequencies include Sydney Approach on 135.9 MHz, ATIS on 34.7 MHz, the CTAF and Tower both on 135.5 MHz, Flight Service on 124.55 MHz, and Sydney Radar GCA on 34.94 MHz. Ground movement control is provided on SMC 128.25 MHz and SMCV 121.65 MHz, with additional military-specific channels including the RICCOM Command Post on ACP 26.17 MHz, AMC Ops SFA on 897.4 MHz, and the AOCS HF net. Runway 28 is served by an ILS.
Noise abatement procedures and strategies for the base are set out in the RAAF Base Richmond Aircraft Noise Management Plan, reflecting the base's proximity to the surrounding Hawkesbury communities, though specific circuit heights and joining instructions are not detailed in the available material.
The base lies clearly between the towns of Windsor and Richmond, both useful visual landmarks when approaching from the Sydney basin to the southeast.
A military flying school was established on the site, then known as Ham Common, on 28 August 1916. RAAF Station Richmond was formally established on 30 June 1925, becoming the RAAF's first air base outside Victoria and the first in New South Wales, with No. 3 (Army Cooperation) Squadron as its inaugural flying unit under founding commander Frank Lukis. Later commanders of the co-located squadron and base included Harry Cobby and Bill Bostock. A separate Station Headquarters was formed in 1936 under Group Captain Adrian Cole, alongside units such as No. 22 Squadron and No. 2 Aircraft Depot. Before the war Richmond also served as a supplementary airport for Sydney, with aviation pioneers including Charles Kingsford Smith, who landed the Southern Cross there after his trans-Pacific flight in 1928, and Jean Batten among those who used the field. On the outbreak of the Second World War, Richmond's squadrons flew the base's first wartime sortie on 4 September 1939, a coastal patrol off Sydney. The base expanded substantially during the war years, giving rise to numerous squadrons, training schools, radar stations and No. 3 RAAF Hospital, along with a temporary accommodation area known as 'tin city'. After the war Richmond became the RAAF's principal transport base with the arrival of No. 86 Wing and its C-47 Dakotas in 1949; the wing later returned in 1958 after a period at Canberra. The Hercules entered service at Richmond that same year, and the base subsequently also operated the DHC-4 Caribou and Boeing 707. Richmond marked its centenary as a base on 30 June 2025.
Richmond remains an active RAAF base and the headquarters of Air Lift Group, principally operating the C-130J Hercules alongside resident units including No. 37 Squadron, No. 22 (City of Sydney) Squadron, No. 87 Squadron and No. 3 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. In recent years the base has served as a key support hub for humanitarian and disaster relief operations, including bushfire assistance in 2019/2020 and the Afghanistan evacuation in 2021. As a military installation, prior permission is required for any visiting aircraft.