Location
Lat 21.52 N Long 157.84 W Kualoa
Field was located at 49-560 Kamehameha Highway on the coast to the northeast of Honolulu on Oahu. Also known as Kualoa Point Airfield or Kualoa Point.
Prewar
Kualoa
ranch was located at this location.
Construction
During late 1942, the U.S. Army
built a single hard surfaced (unpaved) runway measuring 6,500' oriented north to south with taxiways surfaced with Marston Mat / Pierced Steel Planking (PSP) by 1944. Revetments were constructed on the western side of the runway.
Wartime History
During the Pacific War, Kualoa Field was used by the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) during the Pacific War.
American units based at Kualoa
18th FG, 19th FS (P-40) Bellows May 22, 1942–October 20, 1942 departs Bellows
11th BG, 42nd BS (B-17, B-24) May 18, 1942 - January 1943 Espiritu Santo April 8, 1943 - ?
318th FG, 19th FS (P-47, P-38) May 22, 1942 - October 20, 1942 departs Bellows / Stanley returns December 26, 1943–April 18, 1944 departs Bellows
21st FG, 531st FBS (P-38) Bellows arrives April 21, 1944–October 8, 1944 departs Mokuleia
7th AF, 28th PRS (F-5) Kipapa Field October 9, 1944 (det April 23, 1945 Okinawa) - May 8, 1945 Okinawa
Today
By 1947, Kualoa Field was closed and returned to the prewar owners. Today, part of the Kualoa State Park (Kualoa Regional Park) and Kualoa Ranch. The former airfield is only a clearing today. Several concrete bunkers remain in the cliff face overlooking the former airfield. One of the bunkers is devoted to Hollywood movies
filmed on the property including Jurassic Park (1993), Pearl
Harbor (2001),
and Windtalkers (2002).
References
Hawaii Aviation - Kualoa Field
Abandoned & Little Known Airfields - Kualoa Army Airfield
Kualoa Rance & Private Nature Reserve
Air Force Combat Units of World War II
Thanks to Bob Livingstone for additional information
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Last Updated
July 19, 2024
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