What's the most obscure airport you've visited?

[Flashback]

NZE, Nzerekore airport in South East Guinea. No BP, no security... just get on.

TLE, Tulear/Toliara in Madagascar too but I know at least one AFFer has been there. Hand written BPs, manual touch up for security screening and someone manually checking your carry on bag too.

 

[Sulzerman]

Mine would be UUS, Yuzhno/Sakhalin in Russia, also the oldest commercial 737 I have ever been on, SAT air!

 

[Atleastonce]

Not sure it has an airport code, but a bit of fun visiting by ship and seeing this.

 

[Matt_01]

International FJDG - Diego Garcia, domestic YBRS - Barwon Heads

 

[serfty]

About 50 years ago I did a flight in a Cessna from and to YLOY, had a teacher at Drouin High School into flying and they took a couple of us interested in such for a flight around West Gippsland ...

 

[Le Clair]

Mine would be UUS, Yuzhno/Sakhalin in Russia, also the oldest commercial 737 I have ever been on, SAT air!

Haha, read Sakhalin and Russia and saw the rest of the sentence as “the coldest 737“ you had ever been on

 

[Revenge]

Great thread idea @Mattg !

For me it would be YCD - Nanaimo Airport on Vancouver Island and MSO - Missoula Airport in Montana, both of which I’ve flown out of on my travels around North America.

I agree with the mentions of Gibraltar, what an interesting place! I love how you can walk across the runway when the boom gates are up

 

[Joolz49]

As per the thread title - what was the most out-there airport you've flown into or out of?

I realise the term "obscure" is subjective, as an airport in a small city in Zimbabwe (for example) is probably not that obscure for the people living there. But for the purposes of this thread, I wonder if anyone's been to an airport that no other AFF members have visited?

This doesn't necessarily need to have been on a commercial flight. An obscure airport could, for example, be a little-used airport in a major city such as Biggin Hill in London (which I have not been to and has no commercial flights).

If I think about some of the more obscure airports I've visited, ones that come to mind include Shymkent (CIT), Horta (HOR), Yellowknife (YZF) or Stewart Island/Oban (SZS).

San Cristobal Airport (SCY) in the Galapagos Islands. Probably not so obscure now, though.

 

[JOHN D HOLMES]

As a sometime pilot of light aircraft Aero Commander via C337, B36, C180, R172K down to Austers and C150 (150s don't accelerate they proceed down the runway gathering speed) do any of the following count - Zeehan Tas, Zanthus WA, Willandra NSW, Innamincka (town strip the road) SA to Louth for the races count?

 

[jcwhizz]

Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport (JZH) - at 3,500m altitude on top of a mountain is a strange one - take off is particularly interesting (fly off the end of the runway with a giant valley below you).. but the nearby Jiuzhaigou nature area is something else - well worth a visit (it has recovered since the 2017 earthquake).

 

[JOHN D HOLMES]

Hardly an obscure airport but I do fondly remember descending into Kowloon throwing a right ant the checker board marker and hopefully arriving at Kai Tak International. Much more engaging than Chep Lok

 

[Flyfrequently]

Hardly an obscure airport but I do fondly remember descending into Kowloon throwing a right ant the checker board marker and hopefully arriving at Kai Tak International. Much more engaging than Chep Lok

Agree @JOHN D HOLMES , did it in my youth in 1975, it won't be anywhere near as exciting as our upcoming CX178

 

[Quickstatus]

For the really obscure airports/airfields/airstrips some parts of the Eyre highway are signposted, widened, and often with piano keys threshold markings for aircraft landing - especially the RFDS. No IATA/ICAO code

Here is an Eyre Highway RFDS landing on same runway as in the picture below. Place is called Chadwick Roadstrip





This one north of Broken Hill is actually part of the Silver City Highway, widened and actually has the piano keys threshold markings at both ends. Of course if the road is straight and very long, I suppose only one piano keys threshold markings are needed. Of course, the runway headings are missing. No IATA/ICAO codes that I can see but in FlightSIM it is apparently Y0TP
(Google map images of the same area predate the construction of the runway but coordinates are here)
Is there a navigation waypoint for this location?

About 1.6km long

Trivia: before landing on a remote airstrip at night, the locals burn diesel soaked dunny rolls to light the field to assist RFDS landings. Apparently it meets CASA requirements so long as they are correctly spaced apart.
Any aviators @jb747 @AviatorInsight here ever done a dunny roll landing or similar at night?


Flights from these locations are free for certain passengers.....
I wonder if there are any other similar highways/roads with these markings..

 

[nancypants]

For the really obscure airports/airfields/airstrips some parts of the Eyre highway are signposted, widened, and often with piano keys threshold markings for aircraft landing - especially the RFDS. No IATA/ICAO code

Here is an Eyre Highway RFDS landing on same runway as in the picture below. Place is called Chadwick Roadstrip

View attachment 322571



This one north of Broken Hill is actually part of the Silver City Highway, widened and actually has the piano keys threshold markings at both ends. Of course if the road is straight and very long, I suppose only one piano keys threshold markings are needed. Of course, the runway headings are missing. No IATA/ICAO codes that I can see but in FlightSIM it is apparently Y0TP
(Google map images of the same area predate the construction of the runway but coordinates are here)
Is there a navigation waypoint for this location?

About 1.6km long

Trivia: before landing on a remote airstrip at night, the locals burn diesel soaked dunny rolls to light the field to assist RFDS landings. Apparently it meets CASA requirements so long as they are correctly spaced apart.
Any aviators @jb747 @AviatorInsight here ever done a dunny roll landing or similar at night?


Flights from these locations are free for certain passengers.....
I wonder if there are any other similar highways/roads with these markings..


View attachment 322559

This one is Mount Eba at ground level (edithoto is mislabelled, believe it is actually YTRG Traeger roadstrip)

Dunny rolls (officially) have been out for some time, in favour of purpose constructed kerosene lanterns

Lanterns replace toilet rolls in emergency night retrievals for the Royal Flying Doctor Service - ABC News

amp.abc.net.au

 

[straitman]

Not sure it has an airport code, but a bit of fun visiting by ship and seeing this.

View attachment 322455

I did look for a code but couldn't find one either. The terminal hut is currently looking very worse for wear unfortunately and the airstrip very overgrown. I certainly wouldn't be keen to land there.

 

[Quickstatus]

Dunny rolls (officially) have been out for some time

Mount Eba?. Maybe on the Stuart Highway?

Good to know but I understand Some still use Dunny rolls as the rollout progresses. Problem with Dunny rolls is that it's messy and the burn does not last long.

 

[ozziflyer]

I'd say barrow island for me personally in Aus and ironically Wiley Post Will Rogers in Alaska in an area called Barrow.
Neither of which I ever intend to visit again.

 

[RooFlyer]

King Salmon (AKN) in Alaska was pretty out-of-the-way. Went there to see the bears.

 

[AIRwin]

King Salmon (AKN) in Alaska was pretty out-of-the-way. Went there to see the bears.

View attachment 322603

It did look like a paw print...

 

[RooFlyer]

It did look like a paw print...

Reminded me . Flew from Big Creek seaplane base at King Salmon (appears to be code AK51) to Lake Brooks seaplane base BFK



to see these paw prints