Hal Far, Malta
 

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

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.

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

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?

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

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

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

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.....

"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..

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

... 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!

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" !

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

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

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.

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://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...tairfield1.jpg

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

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/3...lta+aerial.jpg

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.

... when I was first told that, my informant added:

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