Hal Far, Malta

[airsmiles]

Can anyone tell me how far Hal Far was from Luqa? From what I've picked up on the net it seems to be very close, even almost next door! Which direction from Luqa should I be looking?

Thanks
airsmiles

[scorpion63]

It was very close, a couple of miles as the crow flies, about 30 minutes walk on a hot day, that's after you walk through RAF Safi which is now part of the new Luqa Airport. Facing north it's in your four o'clock position, better still look on Google maps, it's now an industrial estate but lots of very identifiable structures remain.

[larssnowpharter]

Not even a couple of miles as one recalls. Ta Qali was about 5 miles North. Last I heard a racetrack.

[JW411]

Well, it was a long time ago! The old runway at Safi is now underneath 32/14 at Luqa (which used to be the short runway). I think the Safi hangars are still there.

Hal Far was Fleet Air Arm territory. As a result of the dispersal policy made necessary during the Siege of Malta in WWII, I believe it was possible to taxi an aircraft from Luqa to Safi and down to Hal Far. I presume that it was also possible to taxi up to Takali (Ta'Qali) which now has a splendid museum.

The Maltese airfield that doesn't get much mention is Siggiewi which is on top of the cliffs on the west coast and just off the end of Luqa if you take off on runway 24. I seem to remember that it was a signals unit in my day.

Does anyone know what went on there during WWII?

[4Greens]

I think there used to be a strip on Gozo as well.

[ATR42300]

There was also an airfield at Qrendi you can see the old runway on Google Earth.

Hal Far? The home of the legendery Faith, Hope & Charity Gloster Galdiators.

Ta Qali the base for the excellent Malta Aviation Museum and its dedicated team led by Ray Polidano and their excellent restorations

[JW411]

I think the airlield near Qrendi is the same airfield that I refered to as Siggiewi.

[Lightning Mate]

About two runway lengths away, which is why we used it as a diversion from Luqa!!

Mind you, we were short of fuel on take-off.....

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

"Request clearance to Hal Far"
"How far is that?"

Oh yes.... happy days in Africa when some of the Daks operating into the Libyan desert oil fields used to go to Hal Far for maintenace..

[merlinxx]

Didn't Medavia once reside at Hal Far ? Taxiway (now a road) from Luqa ?

[FantomZorbin]

... and just down the road from Hal Far was the old seaplane base at Kalafrana, the hangar of which was dismantled and erected alongside the airport terminal at Luqa.

Safi ... aah those evenings sipping Cisk at the Folk Club - happy days!

[virgo]

In October 1965, 38 squadron (Shackleton MR2s) was moved from Luqa to Hal Far.
I've got a log-book entry:

date aircraft flight details flight time
30th October 1965 WL 740 Transit. Luqa - Hal Far 2 minutes

(We took off from runway 24 and landed on 31)

When I submitted my log book for its monthly signature, the flight-commander deleted the "2 minutes" and substituted "5 minutes" with the comment ; "RAF aircraft are airborne for a minimum of 5 minutes unless they crash" !

[Croqueteer]

:ok:Hi Virgo! I also did one of those positioning flights with Ernie Banfield when we moved to Hal-Far!

[airsmiles]

I have a book that I bought from the Malta Air Museum that suggests that it was possible to taxi from Luqa through Safi and onto Hal Far. This was done for aircraft dispersal reasons.

Still looking for some maps that show all 3 airfields in the same shot!

airsmiles

[DHfan]

When I flew in to Luqa 20 years ago I found the proximity of Hal Far most disconcerting. We were obviously on finals and there was a runway clearly visible to port, I was sure we were too low to turn and land on it. Fortunately the pilot knew which was which, and I didn't.

[Final 3 Greens]

FYI

Luqa (pronounced loooo-ah) now has runways re-aligned to 13-31 (3,500m approx), 05-23 (the priginal runway 06-24). The new airport terminal is actually located nearer to the village of Gudja, but is still refered to by the original name.

Qrendi (pronouned rendi) is the airfield near the cliffs, and was built to house the fighters later on in the war when they moved from Luqa, it is some distance (by Maltese standards) from the village of Siggiewi, although the villages share a boundary.

Hal Far is now disused as an airfield, although the emergency services do have an old airframe and an old helicopter there, which I guess they use for practice, although I don't know for sure.

For anyone interested in WWII and the siege of Malta, a Maltese company recently released a documentary film entitled 'HITS - Heroes in the Sky', which also features Ray Polidano for a few minutes - well worth buying.

Coming soon... (http://www.maltaheroes.com/)

[larssnowpharter]

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t295/larssnowpharter/whatairfield1.jpg

Ta Qali. Allegedly one of the most heavily bombed pieces of real estate in the World.

[John Eacott]

This photo was taken late 1970/early 1971, IIRC. Lots of runways to choose from, including Grand Harbour ;)

http://www.eacott.com.au/gallery/d/3082-1/Malta+aerial.jpg

[JW411]

Finals Three Greens:

Thank you for that (Qrendi/Siggiewi); I did a bit of googling this afternoon and my memory was confusing the signals unit at RAF Siggiewi (between Luqa and Siggiewi) with the airfield on the cliff top which I now know to be Qrendi.

[teeteringhead]

Luqa (pronounced loooo-ah) ... when I was first told that, my informant added:

"The Q is silent .......... as in mausoleum!" Boom Boom!

[nacluv]

So which direction are the prevailing winds on Malta then?

[Krakatoa]

I do not know about surface winds but a wise old Shackleton nav. told me that if you used 310/15kts all the way to the UK you would not be far out.

[Shackman]

Went on landaway to Malta early '68 or '69 in a 14 Sqn Canberra from RAFG. Luqa was in the process of runway resurfacing so we went to Hal Far but were in the mess at Luqa. On one occasion our transport was held up/diverted because a Varsity was being towed from Luqa to Hal Far so it could depart after some repairs! Certainly the roads were wide enough (and looked like taxiways anyway) but how the tug got it up the hill I don't know.

[Lightning Mate]

So which direction are the prevailing winds on Malta then?

West to South West.

[handsfree]

There appear to have been two airstrips on Gozo during the time of the Sicily invasions. The following link is quite informative.

INDEPENDENT online (http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=71858)

[ernst26]

Hi Ernst here, those were the days eh! I reckon the fastest I did it in was 30 secs- go on, ask me how!

[fergineer]

Ernst..... Good to hear you are still going strong....obviously not ex Shacks but ex Nims.

[Lukeafb1]

Does anyone know the fate of the Russian transport aircraft, which was purportedly flown to Luqa dy a defecting pilot. It sat for a long time on a pan at Luqa in the 60s.

[chevvron]

Looking at Hal Far on satellite photo's, there appears to be a dragstrip there now.

[Haraka]

I can confirm that during the siege of Malta aircraft did indeed taxi between Luqa , Hal Far and Takali. My Halton brat father was on 126 Sqn at the time and described the practice, sharing maintainance facilites in the quarry at Luqa and using a series of link tracks , including public roads to disperse. There are photos around of this going on.
I did a brief Cadet detachment to Malta in '69 and recall a Constellation which had been impounded for gun running as being a well known resident. I don't recall seeing any Russian transport.

[BEagle]

Looking at Hal Far on satellite photo's, there appears to be a dragstrip there now.

See Malta Drag Racing Association >>> (http://maltadragracing.com/)

I recall seeing a few pieces of scrap aircraft at Hal Far back in January 1978, but cannot recall the types. Perhaps the remains of a Firefly U9 left over from the days of 728B squadron which operated drones for the FAA to shoot down?

[DHfan]

I'm surprised to hear of aircraft taxying from Luqa to Takali, it's a very long way to taxi and, assuming airworthy, would warrant flying.

I know they were taxied between Safi, Hal Far and Luqa, could that be what's remembered?

[Haraka]

DGH fan. Certainly Safi strip was indeed on the network. I could well be mistaken regarding Takali, as memory plays tricks and the old man has been gone many years.
P.S. Just checked in "Briefed to Attack" ( Air Marshal Sir Hugh Lloyd). Sketch maps on pps 61 and 63 show the linked up dispersals Luqa to Safi to Hal Far and aerial photo on pp64 shows the whole complex including the Luqa to Hal Far Taxi link for aircraft.
Lloyd describes the construction of the complex in considerable detail and goes on to talk about Takali , however there is no mention of linking this to the main complex. Interestingly, in a straight line Luqa to Takali is five miles , only just over a mile or so more than Luqa to Hal Far.

[chevvron]

After the Battle did a whole issue on Malta years ago. As far as I recall (my copy is somewhere in my loft) it listed:
Luqa
Safi
Hal Far
Qrendi
TaQali
The Racecourse
as land airfields and Masaxxlok Harbour/Kalafrana plus St Pauls Bay as sea landings. It only listed one very temporary airfield on Gozo.

[Peter47]

Adding to the post from Shackman, my father who was in the RAF was posted to Malta from 1968 - 1971. One day we were meeting someone who was flying BEA from the UK and the aircraft was using Hal Far owing to runway resurfacing. Passengers were being bussed from Hal Far where presumably all ramp operations were undertaken to the civil terminal at Luqa. I don't know if the bus journey would have been entirely "airside" but security wasn't an issue in those days.

[Marbles]

In 1944 HMSO published a pamphlet called 'The Air Battle of Malta. It has many good photos, though the text has to be taken with a pinch of salt after the propaganda merchants and censors had had their go. On page 12-13 there is a map of the eastern section of the island, and it shows the airfields of Malta: Takali, Luqa, Safi Strip and Hal Far. Hal Far appears to be just a field, but Luqa had four runways, Takali three, and Safi two. Between Luqa, Safi and Hal Far are lots of squiggly black lines showing the dispersal pens and the roads between them; and yes, it appears to have been possible to taxi, in a meandering manner, from Luqa to Hal Far. The vertical photo of Takali posted in this thread is similar to, but not quite the same as, a photo on page 44-45.

If you can get a copy the booklet is worth it for the photos alone. My father was out there twice, in late 1941-42, very briefly, as a Whitley W/Op.

[Marbles]

And no, the diagram shows there was no link between Luqa and Takali.

[scotbill]

Copied this from the photos thread to add to the nostalgia - a fine 1957 selection of Canberras, Valiants and Shacks in the background at Luqa.
Photo taken from a 99 Sqdn Hastings

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa453/scotbill/ValettaLuqa1957.jpg

[DHfan]

"In 1944 HMSO published a pamphlet called 'The Air Battle of Malta."

I'd completely forgotten about that pamphlet, which is a bit daft as I only bought my copy from eBay a few months ago.

[Wyvernfan]

Does anyone have any photos of Short Sturgeons at Hal Far when being operated by 728 Naval Air Squadron. Or the 14 odd Sturgeons that were scrapped there in the late 1950's?

Thanks in advance.

[ricardian]

The Maltese airfield that doesn't get much mention is Siggiewi which is on top of the cliffs on the west coast and just off the end of Luqa if you take off on runway 24. I seem to remember that it was a signals unit in my day.

Does anyone know what went on there during WWII?
840 Signals Unit, RAF. (http://www.sheba-imports.com/RAF_Siggiewi_Malta.html)

[T-21]

Chevvron,

The "After The Battle " magazine on Malta is No 10 published 1975. I picked up a copy for £2 at the weekend. Good coverage on the Maltese airfields. You can buy back copies just Google " After The Battle ".

[chevvron]

ATB also did an issue devoted to Gibraltar; copies were issued to all air cadets and adult staff attending Gibraltar camps.

[Lightning Mate]

All I know about Hal Far is this...

Back in the late 60s and early 70s we used it as a crash diversion from Luqa.

The aeroplane? The Lightning.

We knew we could always get one out of Hal Far, but if the 'chute failed on landing I doubt any of us could ever have stopped the thing trying to get in.

Thankfully we never had to use it.

[4Greens]

There was basic arrestor gear at Hal Far. Saved me once in a Venom, but then I had a hook.

[JW411]

I thought the later Lightnings (Mk.6) had hooks?

[Lightning Mate]

Yes, but at the time I was flying the F3, which didn't have a hook.

[4Greens]

Most exciting event in my time at Hal Far. A Dutch Tracker Squadron called in and stayed for a few days. A Tracker got airborne on a Sunday morning, unusual in peacetime. There was a lot of excitement in the Squadron as it was a ground crewman who took the aircraft and landed in Tripoli.

Never heard the denoument - any offers ?