Article Talk Read Edit View history Search Wikipedia

RAAF Base Tindal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Coordinates: 14°31′16″S 132°22′40″E

Main page Not to be confused with . Contents For other uses, see Tindal (disambiguation). Featured content RAAF Base Tindal (IATA: KTR, ICAO: YPTN) is a Royal Australian Air Force Current events RAAF Base Tindal (RAAF) military air base and civil aviation airfield located 8 nautical miles (15 km; Random article Katherine Tindal Civilian Airport 9.2 mi) east southeast of the town of Katherine, in Australia.[1] The Donate to Wikipedia near Katherine, Northern Territory in Australia Wikipedia store base is currently home to No. 75 Squadron and a number of non-flying units, and also hosts the Katherine Tindal Civilian Airport. First constructed in 1942, it was Interaction refurbished in the late 1960s as a "bare base" capable of being utilised when Help required. It was opened as a permanently manned RAAF base in 1989. About Wikipedia Community portal Contents [hide] Recent changes 1 History Contact page 2 Military units Tools 3 General aviation What links here 3.1 Airlines and destinations A United States Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornet at Related changes 4 See also RAAF Base Tindal in 2016. Upload file 5 References Special pages 6 External links Permanent link Page information Wikidata item Cite this page History [ edit ]

Print/export The crest of RAAF Tindal

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD Create a book Tindal was initially built for the RAAF as Carson's Download as PDF Airfield in 1942. The airfield was constructed by the Printable version US Army's 43rd Engineer General Service

In other projects Regiment. Its purpose was to provide a base for Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers that Wikimedia Commons RAAF Base Tindal could strike at Japanese targets in Papua New Languages Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, but the turning Cebuano tide of the war rendered this unnecessary and no Deutsch aircraft were deployed there before the cessation of hostilities. In 1946, the airfield was renamed in ﻓﺎرﺳﯽ Bahasa Melayu honour of Wing Commander Archibald (Archie) Polski Português Tindal, the first RAAF member killed in action on the Svenska Australian mainland during World War II; he died Тоҷикӣ Archie Tindal, for whom while manning a machine gun against Japanese the airfield was named in Edit links raiders bombing Darwin on 19 February 1942, and 1946 was buried at the Adelaide River war cemetery.[2]

In 1959, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sir , proposed building a second airfield in the Darwin area. Like Tindal, he had been in Darwin when it was bombed by the Japanese in 1942, and Location in the Northern Territory believed that Australia's defences in the north needed to be Coordinates 14°31′16″S 132°22′40″E strengthened.[3]:135–137, 283 Following a survey, Tindal was selected in May 1963 as Type Military air base being close enough to RAAF Base Darwin to afford mutual protection, but far Civil aviation airfield enough from the coast to be defensible and to avoid the effects of tropical cyclones. Site information Other factors, such as being outside the projected nuclear fall-out zone should Owner Department of Defence Darwin be targeted by a nuclear weapon, as well as an adequate water supply and Operator Royal Australian Air Force suitable road and rail connections, also influenced the decision.[4] Website RAAF Base Tindal Conceived as an "Un-Manned Operational Base" (later to be known as a "bare Katherine Tindal Civilian Airport base"), Tindal was to have no permanent staff and very few buildings. Essentially it Site history would consist of a , taxiways and hardstanding along with the minimal Built 1942 infrastructure, such as electricity and water, to permit it to be activated when In use 1942 – present

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD required.[3]:56 No. 5 Airfield Construction Squadron commenced work in 1964 and Garrison information the 2,743-metre (8,999 ft) runway was completed in March 1967, at a cost of Occupants No. 75 Squadron $7 million.[3]:56[5] The base was ready to support RAAF units by early 1968, though No. 452 Squadron Tindal Flight work expanding its facilities continued through 1968 and 1969.[5] No. 3 Control and Reporting Unit Detachment Tindal In 1984, the Australian government decided to move the RAAF's fast jet base in the No. 322 Expeditionary Combat Northern Territory from Darwin to Tindal to more effectively control the sea-air gap, in Support Squadron keeping with its strategic policy of defence in depth. After a major upgrade RAAF No. 1 Airfield Operations Support Squadron Detachment Tindal Tindal became operational on 1 October 1988, the first new manned base to be No. 2 Expeditionary Health established since World War II. It was officially opened on 31 March 1989, the Squadron Detachment Tindal [2][6] RAAF's 68th anniversary, by Prime Minister Bob Hawke. The opening was 2SECFOR Squadron originally planned for July 1988 but was delayed due to difficulties finding a date Airfield information [7] suitable to both Hawke and the Minister for Defence, Kim Beazley. Since its Identifiers IATA: KTR, ICAO: YPTN establishment, Tindal has remained the RAAF's main operational base in the Elevation 135 metres (443 ft) AMSL Northern Territory. It has regularly hosted other units for exercises and supported the Runways Australian-led intervention during the 1999 East Timorese crisis, and No. 75 Direction Length and surface [2][8] Squadron's deployment for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In keeping with Tindal's 14/32 2,744 metres (9,003 ft) Asphalt position in the northern area of operations, it is manned exclusively by uniformed Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart[1] personnel. In 2004 it was awarded the RAAF's Hawker Siddeley Trophy for most proficient base of the previous year.[6][8]

In 1997 an Antonov An-124 Ruslan aircraft carrying weapons and four helicopters belonging to the mercenary company Sandline International was diverted from its planned destination in Papua to Tindal during the Sandline affair. The helicopters were subsequently stored at the base, without Sandline being charged rent. Two Mil Mi-17 troop carriers were sold in 1999, but the two remaining helicopters, Mil Mi-24 gunships, remained unsold.[9] As of 2015 the was seeking to dispose of them during 2016.[10]

Australian F-111s were bombed-up at the base ready to attack Indonesian forces and command systems during the tension in 1999 during the establishment of East Timor's independence and the deployment of the Australian-led International Force for East Timor.[11]

Military units [ edit ]

The following units are located at RAAF Base Tindal:[12]

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD Unit Unit name Force Element Group Aircraft Notes F/A-18 No. 75 Squadron Air Combat Group [13] Hornet Surveillance and Response Air traffic No. 452 Squadron Tindal Flight Group control[14] Surveillance and Response No. 3 Control and Reporting Unit Detachment Tindal Air defence[15] Group No. 322 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron Combat Support Group Base services[16] No. 1 Airfield Operations Support Squadron Detachment Combat Support Group [17] Tindal No. 2 Expeditionary Health Squadron Detachment Tindal Combat Support Group [17] No. 2 Security Forces Squadron (2SECFOR) Combat Support Group

In addition, the Army's NORFORCE Regional Force Surveillance Unit has a detachment located at Tindal.[12]

General aviation [ edit ]

A general aviation apron and civilian passenger terminal were built under an agreement between the RAAF and Katherine Town Council. The civilian area is known as Katherine Tindal Civilian Airport. Passenger aircraft as large as the Boeing 737 can use the airport.[18]

Airlines and destinations [ edit ]

Airlines Destinations Alice Springs, Darwin, Tennant Creek[19] Katherine Aviation[20] Borroloola, Gove, Groote Eylandt, Kalkaringi, Lajamanu, Ngukurr

See also [ edit ] List of Australian Air Force installations Royal Australian Air List of airports in the Northern Territory Force portal

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD Northern Territory References [ edit ] portal

1. ^ a b YPTN – Tindal (PDF). AIP En Route Supplement from Airservices Australia, effective 01 March 2018. Aviation portal 2. ^ a b c "Tindal: A history" . Air Force News, Vol. 46, No. 12. 15 July 2004. Retrieved 10 June 2013. 3. ^ a b c Stephens, Alan (1995). Going Solo: The Royal Australian Air Force 1946–1971. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. ISBN 0-644-42803-1. 4. ^ RAAF Base Tindal Redevelopment Stage 5: Katherine, Northern Territory: Statement of Evidence to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works (PDF), Canberra: Department of Defence, February 2008 5. ^ a b Wilson, David (1998). Always First: The RAAF Airfield Construction Squadrons 1942–1974 . Canberra: Air Power Studies Centre. pp. 141–143. ISBN 0-642-26525-9. 6. ^ a b Stephens, Alan (2006) [2001]. The Royal Australian Air Force: A History. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 299–300. ISBN 0-19-555541-4. 7. ^ "Base opening delay" . Trove. National Library of Australia. 19 October 1988. Retrieved 1 May 2015. 8. ^ a b "High praise for last all-blue base" . Air Force News. 46 (12). 15 July 2004. Retrieved 10 June 2013. 9. ^ "Chopper Sale Grounded" . The Australian. 8 December 2003. Retrieved 20 January 2017. 10. ^ Thomson, Philip (13 September 2015). "Mercenary helicopter gunships remain grounded on Defence base after 18 years" . The Canberra Times. Retrieved 13 March 2016. 11. ^ "Australia 'was set to bomb Jakarta in Timor conflict' " . The Telegraph. Australia. 23 June 2001. Retrieved 20 January 2017. 12. ^ a b "RAAF Base Tindal" . Royal Australian Air Force. Australian Government. Retrieved 10 June 2013. 13. ^ "Air Combat Group" . Royal Australian Air Force. Retrieved 10 June 2013. 14. ^ "No. 452 Squadron" . Royal Australian Air Force. Retrieved 10 June 2013. 15. ^ "Surveillance and Control Group" . Royal Australian Air Force. Retrieved 10 June 2013. 16. ^ "No. 396 Expeditionary Combat Support Wing" . Royal Australian Air Force. Retrieved 10 June 2013. 17. ^ a b O'Brien, Graham (2009). Always There: A History of Air Force Combat Support. Canberra: Air Power Development Centre. p. 214–215. ISBN 978-1-920800-45-1. 18. ^ "Airport" . Katherine Town Council. Retrieved 10 June 2013. 19. ^ "Airnorth launches "Centre Run" flights between Darwin and Alice Springs" . Australian Aviation. Retrieved 14 March 2016. 20. ^ "Katherine Base" . Katherine Aviation. Retrieved 10 June 2013.

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD External links [ edit ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAAF Base Tindal.

V · T · E Royal Australian Air Force bases [show]

V · T · E Airports in the Northern Territory [show]

Categories: Airports in the Northern Territory Military installations in the Northern Territory Royal Australian Air Force bases 1942 establishments in Australia Airports established in 1942 Katherine, Northern Territory Military installations established in 1942

This page was last edited on 5 April 2018, at 09:02 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Developers Cookie statement Mobile view

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD