香港 (Hong Kong - a.k.a. Fragrant Harbor) and other Far East Liberty ports - then & now

[Catmando]

Without lookin' it up ... 12K & change sounds about right ... ol' Hong Kong was @ 11K which didn't count for much given the 'interesting' aspects of the approaches. The runways may as well have been 8K ...

And for the record:

Gaddis Dress Code
Lunch - Business casual
Dinner - Jacket for gentlemen

*No flip-flops, beach sandals, plastic footwear, athletic wear or jeans. Additionally for gentlemen, full length trousers only and no sleeveless shirts.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ..... Civilization ...

Thanks. My eyes must be slipping but it looked no longer than 8k which would be extremely short for int'l heavy ops. 12k is OK. Whew!

Never personally piloted into old HK, but rode as a wide-eye pax many times. My 1st was in a C-47 out of Clark AFB.

I miss the old colonial atmosphere of HK. And dress codes? Fine by me. And also, while the old airline non-rev codes were too extreme for too long, they went to the other extreme where anything goes. Is that progress?

 

[A4sForever]

....Never personally piloted into old HK, but rode as a wide-eye pax many times.....

The one saving grace of many (most?) of the approaches in the Far East was:

No matter how hard, screwed up, or 'difficult' the depicted approaches might be ... you were usually 'cleared' out of altitude for "Approach XYZ to Runway ABC", and somewhere @ the mid-point in the descent -- approach started giving you vectors until 'cleared for the approach' was called as the ILS came up on the instruments -- which frequently solved most (many?) of your problems ... and kept some guys from losing their careers ...

The only one I can think of offhand that did NOT follow this 'escape clause' WAS the IGS @ RW13 HKG (you had to fly it all the way) and/or the approaches into Shanghai & Peking (O.K. .... Beijing, if you must -- but have you ever heard of 'Bejing Duck' at any Chineee restaurant ???) when we first started going in there in the early-mid '80s ...

 

[Catmando]

(O.K. .... Beijing, if you must -- but have you ever heard of 'Bejing Duck' at any Chineee restaurant ???)

LMAO!! :icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol:

 

[jorgelito]

You flew into Macao too? Macao has a nice airport even if the runway is on the water. Seems like we've been prowling the same neighborhoods there, I wonder if we ever shared the same flights. If so, then thanks for getting me safely to my destinations in the middle of typhoons. I still get a little uneasy when the wind whips up.

If I remember correctly, the approach to Kai Tak had a sharp turn at the last minute before touchdown, right between some apartment blocks. I swear I could see people's laundry hanging from their balconies during landings. I'm assuming the approach to Chek Lap Kok is considerably easier and less jarring.

Tea time at the Peninsula is always fun even if a bit pricey. Tons of great restaurants in Hong Kong to be had. Lots of cool places in interesting locations and street stalls to sample. Man this thread makes me miss HK and traveling in Asia in general. Haven't been back in almost 2 years.

 

[A4sForever]

You flew into Macao too? Macao has a nice airport even if the runway is on the water.....

Macao -- used to be off limits when I was cruisin' for UNCLE, so I never made it over then ... I went over there twice on WX diverts from HKG while cruisin' for fun & profit. 40+ KTS of wind out of the north didn't work too well for 'new' HKG airport ... worked fine for Macao, however -- even if a little bumpy on the way in ....

The runway being on the water never bothered me too much; I was 'kinda used' to that ...

 

[scoolbubba]

Macao -- used to be off limits when I was cruisin' for UNCLE, so I never made it over then ... I went over there twice on WX diverts from HKG while cruisin' for fun & profit. 40+ KTS of wind out of the north didn't work too well for 'new' HKG airport ... worked fine for Macao, however -- even if a little bumpy on the way in ....

The runway being on the water never bothered me too much; I was 'kinda used' to that ...

Waving F4s? I knew you were old, but damn...when's the centenarian celebration?

 

[Jim123]

Waving F4s? I knew you were old, but damn...when's the centenarian celebration?

Reminds me of one of my primary sim instructors. After the brief he made some conversation to try to get my uptight student brain to relax and talked about his first fleet aircraft- the Vought F4U. Of course this guy was older than dirt and looked it. In spite of my better judgment* I looked him right in the eye and deadpanned, "Really sir? You don't look a day over thirty!" As I stood there wondering if he was going to kill me, a wide smile broke across his face and he started laughing. The event actually went pretty well...

So lots of people see a Corsair and maybe think of wooden flight decks, Black Sheep, the Marianas Turkey shoot... I think of my brain fart.


* my better judgment being that voice inside my head screaming "YOU... IDIOT... SHUT... UP!"