Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
Hawaii, Southern Oahu Island
© 2001, © 2008 by Paul Freeman. Revised 7/30/08.
Bellows Field / Bellows AFS (revised 7/30/08) - Ewa MCAS (revised 2/16/06)
Kualoa Army Airfield (revised 2/16/06) - Luke Field / Ford Island NALF (revised 7/30/08)
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Kualoa Army Airfield, Kualoa, HI
21.52 North / 157.84 West (Northeast of Honolulu, HI)
A May 10, 1942 photo of Kualoa Field (courtesy of Dave Fahrenwald of Hawaiian Aviation History).
Barely visible within the revetments along the bottom of the photo were B-17, LB-30, and B-18 bombers.
This airfield was evidently constructed during the early portion of WW2
a satellite field for units assigned to Bellows Field, and was used mainly for training.
The date of construction of the Kualoa airfield has not been determined.
The earliest depiction of the field which has been located
was a May 10, 1942 photo of Kualoa Field (courtesy of Dave Fahrenwald of Hawaiian Aviation History).
Kualoa Field consisted of a single north/south runway, which was formed of pierced steel planking.
The road to Ka'a'awa & the north shore crossed over Kualoa's runway,
so the cars would have to wait whenever an airplane took off.
A row of revetments for protected aircraft parking was along the west side of the runway.
Several fortified bunkers for coast artillery batteries were constructed in the cliffs overlooking Kualoa Field during WW2.
A 1943 aerial view looking southwest at Kualoa Field (courtesy of Dave Fahrenwald of Hawaiian Aviation History).
The 1943 USGS topo map (courtesy of John Voss) depicted the "Kualoa (Emer.)" airfield,
as well as the nearby "Kaaawa (Emer)" airfield just along the coast to the northwest.
An October 8, 1944 photo of men walking over the perforated steel planking
which formed the runway of Kualoa Field (courtesy of Dave Fahrenwald of Hawaiian Aviation History).
The aircraft at the left is a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter.
The April 1945 V-450 Hawaiian Islands U.S. Navy Aviation Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted the airfield at Kualoa as having a control tower.
Since Kualoa Field had been constructed on land that was not owned by the military,
it was returned to its original owners after WW2.
The actual date of closure of the airfield has not been determined.
The Kualoa Airfield was closed at some point between 1944-47,
as it was labeled "Kualoa AAB (Closed)" on the 1947 Hawaiian Islands Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss).
It was depicted as having a single 6,500' hard-surface runway.
The 1983 USGS topo map no longer depicts the runway at Kualoa.
The airfield site was labeled as "Kualoa Regional Park".
A circa 2001-2005 USGS aerial photo showed that remains still existed
of the majority of the length of the paved runway at Kualoa,
both north & south of the road which crosses the former runway.
Dave Fahrenwald reported in 2000 that nothing remains of Kualoa's former runway.
The property has become Kualoa State Park & Kualoa Ranch.
A few of the fortified revetments along the shear cliffs above the former airfield still remain intact,
as the only remaining indication of this site's military history.
A 2005 photo by David Trojan of the Kualoa Beach Park, which occupies the site of the former airfield
(courtesy of Colin Perry of the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society).
A 2005 photo by David Trojan of the the remains of a bunker adjacent to the former Kualoa airfield
(courtesy of Colin Perry of the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society).
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Ewa Marine Corps Air Station, Ewa, HI
21.33 North / 158.05 West (West of Honolulu, HI)
A September 1941 aerial view looking southwest at Ewa Field
(courtesy of Colin Perry of the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society).
The Navy secured a lease to a 700 acre tract at Ewa in the early 1930s.
There it built a dirigible mooring mast & a 1,500' oil-surfaced emergency landing field.
After the last of the Navy dirigibles were phased out (or destroyed),
Ewa was made available for Marine Corps aircraft use in 1939.
The Navy purchased an additional 3,500 acres for Ewa in 1940.
The earliest depiction which has been located of Ewa Field was a September 1941 aerial view
(courtesy of Colin Perry of the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society).
A close-up from the September 1941 aerial view of Ewa Field,
showing a large number of single-engine & twin-engine aircraft, monoplanes & biplanes
(courtesy of Colin Perry of the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society).
On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft struck Ewa before hitting Pearl Harbor.
All Marine Corps aircraft at Ewa (a total of 48) were destroyed in the course of the attack.
By the time of the Pearl Harbor attack,
a total of four runways had been constructed at Ewa, along with buildings & hangars.
Fueling a F2A-3 Brewster Buffalo in a camouflaged revetment at Ewa in 1942.
Throughout the course of WW2, Ewa served as a staging base & a training facility.
A December 1944 National Archives aerial photo of Ewa.
Note the large numbers of aircraft on the east side of the field.
The April 1945 V-450 Hawaiian Islands U.S. Navy Aviation Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted the airfield at Ewa as having a control tower.
Following WW2, Ewa continued to be used by the Marine Corps.
MCAS Ewa was depicted on the 1947 Hawaiian Islands Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss)
as having a 5,000' hard-surface runway.
Grumman F7F Tigercats at MCAS Ewa, circa 1948, by Lowell Malliett.
The Korean War brought a new surge of activity to Ewa,
but the jet aircraft then being introduced to the Marine Corps were increasingly unsuitable for Ewa's short runways,
and the close proximity of NAS Barber's Point ruled out any extension of Ewa's runways.
As a result, Marine aviation relocated to MCAS Kaneohe Bay,
and Ewa was declared excess & disestablished in 1952.
The airfield's property was absorbed into NAS Barber's Point.
The vast majority of the buildings of the former Marine Corps base were taken down in subsequent years.
Although it was labeled as closed, MCAS Ewa was still depicted
in the airfields diagram on the October 1954 Hawaiian Islands Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It was shown as having three paved runways, with the longest being 5,000'.
The three paved runways of MCAS Ewa were still depicted
on the 1955 Honolulu Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),
but the field was labeled "closed".
The longest runway was listed as 5,000'.
According to the 1983 USGS topo map,
at that point only the northeast/southwest runway still remained largely intact,
along with much smaller lengths of two other runways.
According to former Barber's Point P-3 crewman Joe Krieg,
"MCAS Ewa, or what is left of it, is at the east end of the NAS Barbers Point complex.
Still visible from the air is one of the old runways."
According to Tom Kramer, "I was on that site many times in the early 1970's.
It was the Barbers Point NAS Golf Course.
The fairways were built around the concrete runways & taxiways.
When a ball sliced or hooked off the fairway & hit them, it went forever into the brush.
The concrete half shell hangars were still in there, hidden in the brush
and I used to go back & find golf balls all over the place.
I was never able to get back in there to see if they are still there.
However, Barber's Point NAS just closed but not built over, so I would assume they still are."
A 2000 NOAA aerial view shows that asphalt pavement remains of at least two former runways at Ewa.
A 2003 photo by CW2 Matt Hobbs of the remains of a runway at Ewa (with a Coast Guard C-130 in the background).
A 2003 photo by CW2 Matt Hobbs of a concrete revetment hangar which remains intact at Ewa.
CW2 Matt Hobbs (an Army Blackhawk pilot stationed at nearby Wheeler AAF) reported in 2004,
"I live in Ewa Beach, and my wife & I were driving around what used to be MCAS Ewa.
The old concrete hangars are still there, and in excellent condition.
Some are being used as horse stables, but the majority are empty.
The concrete hangars are in rows along overgrown taxiways.
I was talking to a guy who said that a guy went out there in 1999
and dragged the remains of a Douglas Dauntless out of the scrub brush out there.
Pretty amazing to think it sat out there for all of those years."
A 2003 photo by CW2 Matt Hobbs of a memorial at Ewa.
"The memorial is at the Barber's Point golf course, which remains open,
although NAS Barber's Point was turned over to the state (it is now the Kalealoa Airport).
The memorial is dedicated to several Marines who lost their lives on December 7, 1941,
and has photos from that day."
See also: United States Marine Corps Air Stations of World War II.
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Luke Field / Ford Island Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (HVG), Pearl Harbor, HI
21.36 North / 157.96 West (Southwest of Honolulu, HI)
A 1925 aerial view looking northeast at Ford Island,
with the Army's Luke Field facilities on the left, and the Navy's facilities on the right.
The United States acquired this island in the middle of Pearl Harbor in several parcels between 1906-18,
and an airfield was first built by the Army in 1918.
It was initially known as Luke Field.
Navy aircraft arrived in 1919, and the Navy's Air Station was commissioned in 1923.
The runway was completed in 1925.
The earliest depiction which has been located of Ford Island was a 1925 aerial view.
It depicted the with the Army's Luke Field having 4 hangars on the northwest side of the island,
and the Navy having at least one seaplane hangar on the south side.
An October 10, 1930 aerial view of biplane fighters & bombers (Keystones?) at Luke Field on Ford Island (courtesy of Bill Roberts).
The Navy assumed full control of Ford Island in 1935,
after the Army Air Forces moved to newly-constructed Hickam Field.
Pearl Harbor Naval Air Station at Luke Field was the headquarters of the commander of the Pacific Fleet Air Forces.
Burning planes & hangars at Ford Island, after the December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.
Ford Island was bombed & strafed during the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
"Battleship Row" is located along the north side of the island,
where many battleships were attacked & sunk.
The USS Arizona memorial is just off the southeast coast of the island.
The April 1945 V-450 Hawaiian Islands U.S. Navy Aviation Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted the airfield at Ford Island as having a control tower.
"NAS Pearl Harbor" was depicted on the 1947 Hawaiian Islands Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss)
as having a 4,000' hard-surface runway.
Ford Island as depicted on the 1961 Honolulu Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss).
Regular military flight operations at Ford Island were ended in 1962,
as the short runway had limited the operational use of the facility.
However, the airfield continued to be used in later years for operations of light civil aircraft flown by military flying clubs.
Jay Jiudice recalled, "The view of Ford Island in Pearl Harbor reminded me of an accident one of our students had
when a flare went off in the cockpit as he was taking off from that strip.
The instructor with him managed to do a 180 & make a downwind landing,
saving the student & himself, but had to spend months in the Tripler Hospital burn unit."
Ford Island was depicted on the December 1977 Hawaiian Islands Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
as having a single 4,000' paved runway.
On February 20, 1970 the 4,500' runway at Ford Island was opened to civilian pilots for flight training operations.
The 1981 Hawaii Airports & Flying Safety Guide (courtesy of Jonathan Westerling)
described "ALF Ford Island" as being an "ALF to Barbers Point NAS",
with civil operations permitted by prior approval of "any flight school located at Honolulu International Airport."
The airfield was said to consist of a single 4,000' paved Runway 4/22.
The completion of the 4,672' long Admiral Clarey Bridge in 1998
made the island readily accessible to visitors for the first time.
The Ford Island airfield was closed in 1999,
a move which coincided with the acquisition of by the State of Hawaii of surplus land at Barbers Point Naval Air Station
to be used for general aviation purposes.
The Navy planned to redevelop Ford Island with a new museum, residential areas, and offices.
Aerial view of Ford Island, 2001.
Aerial view of Ford Island in 2002.
Note the battleship Missouri moored at pier on the east side.
A circa 2002 photo by David Scott of the Ford Island tower.
A circa 2002 photo by David Scott of a Ford Island hangar.
The airfield consists of a single paved 4,000' runway.
The former control tower still exists, as well as several hangars.
Paul Perona reported in 2004 that a group called the Historic Preservation Society
is working to try to save Ford Island from redevelopment.
They are trying to change upcoming legislation so that the Navy will be released from being obligated to fully maintain the island
and hopefully get it into the hands of the National Parks Service & private museum organizations
that can put it to full use without changing it's historical nature.
A 2005 photo by Dennis Terek looking along Ford Island's abandoned Runway 22, with the hangars & control tower on the left.
A 2005 photo by Dennis Terek of the exterior of a remaining hangar at Ford Island.
A 2005 photo by Dennis Terek of the interior of a remaining hangar at Ford Island.
A 2005 photo by Dennis Terek of the hangar door track where Ford Island's Hangar 6 used to be located.
A 2005 photo by Dennis Terek of the strafe marks which remain in the flightline at Ford Island from the Pearl Harbor attack.
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Bellows Field / Bellows Air Force Station, Walmanalo, HI
21.36 North / 157.72 West (Northeast of Honolulu, HI)
A 1933 aerial view of the original runway at Bellows
(courtesy of the 15th Airlift Wing History Office, via Colin Perry of the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society).
This site was established in 1917 as the Waimanalo Military Reservation,
an infantry training area.
It was renamed Bellows Field in 1933.
It originally had a single asphalt runway (only 983' long), and a wooden tower.
The earliest depiction which has been located of Bellows Field was a 1933 aerial view, showing a single runway
(courtesy of Colin Perry of the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society).
A July 26, 1938 aerial view depicted the single paved runway at Bellows Field.
A major construction program began at Bellows in 1941,
including the construction of a new & larger runway.
A dozen P-40 Warhawk fighters were assigned to the field for training.
A 1941 photo of a Stinson O-49 Vigilant observation aircraft at Bellows Field,
with the dramatic mountains in the background.
A P-40 Warhawk at Bellows Field, damaged in the Japanese attack of December 7, 1941.
Bellows was among those installations attacked by the Japanese during the Pearl Harbor attack.
Two P-40 pilots were killed by strafing Japanese fighters as they attempted to take off.
A crippled B-17C Flying Fortress crash landed at Bellows.
A 1941 photo of the Japanese midget submarine which was found beached on the shore at Bellows Field after the Pearl Harbor attack.
It had been launched by the I-24 mother sub & arrived off the entrance to Pearl Harbor on December 6, 1941.
It was grounded off Bellows Field the next day.
Its commander, Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki, swam ashore on December 8, 1941 and was captured.
The sub was 80' long, 6' in diameter, had a 46 ton displacement, and was battery-powered by a 600 hp motor.
A 1942 aerial view of Bellows Field, showing its early-WW2 single-airfield configuration
(courtesy of the 15th Airlift Wing History Office, via Colin Perry of the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society).
The 1943 USGS topo map (courtesy of John Voss)
depicted two different airfields: "Bellows Field Bombing Range (Emergency)" to the north,
and "Bellows Field (Army)" to the south.
The second airfield was apparently added at some point between 1942-43.
A stunning aerial photo looking southwest at Bellows Field in May 1944,
with rows of P-47s & B-25s on the runway for an inspection
(courtesy of the 15th Airlift Wing History Office, via Colin Perry of the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society).
The April 1945 V-450 Hawaiian Islands U.S. Navy Aviation Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
appeared to depict the Bellows as having two different towers (for its two airfields): “Bellows” & “Scramble”.
"Bellows AAB" was depicted on the 1947 Hawaiian Islands Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss)
as having a 6,200' hard-surface runway.
The airfields diagram on the October 1954 Hawaiian Islands Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted Bellows' south field as having three paved runways,
with the longest being the 6,290' Runway 3/21.
The 1955 Honolulu Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted Bellows as having two distinct airfields, connected by a taxiway
(most likely dictated by geographic constraints).
The north Bellows airfield was labeled as "(closed)"
on the 1955 Honolulu Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),
However, the south Bellows airfield may have been used for some period during the 1950s
as a civilian airfield of some type.
The 1955 Honolulu Local Aeronautical Chart labeled the south field simply as "Bellows",
without any kind of military designation.
In the Aerodromes table on the chart, the type of the airfield is listed as "Ltd" - what did that mean?
The field is described as having a total of 5 runways,
with the longest being a 6,290' asphalt strip.
The field was also described as "Not attended".
The runways at Bellows were eventually closed in 1958.
During the 1950s-70s, a portion of the Bellows property
was used as the location of the Army's OA-32 Nike missile battery,
part of a network of four Nike surface-to-air missile batteries in Oahu.
The Bellows Nike battery was different from many of those on the mainland U.S.
in that the NIKE missiles at the Bellows battery were kept above ground.
The Bellows battery was also a "double" battery, having 2 rows of 12 missile launchers.
The Bellows Nike site is very well preserved, because of its location on a military installation.
Bellows as depicted on the 1961 Honolulu Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss).
Bellows served as the location of a Hawaii Army National Guard Nike Hercules missile battery from 1961-66.
The Bellows property was renamed Bellows Air Force Station in 1968.
USGS topo map 1983.
In the 1980s, the H. H. Aerospace Design Company was commissioned
to study the possibility of reopening one of the Bellows airfields for general aviation use.
They concluded that it would be feasible,
but the Air Force stated that "activation of the airfield would have a negative impact on...
marine assault training that is conducted by the Marine Corps."
The H. H. Aerospace Design Company report provided further details about Bellows:
"The 1st Marine Brigade from Kaneohe MCBH uses Bellows AFS extensively
for combat training to include simultaneous air & amphibious beach assaults.
During 1982, the Marines trained 227 days including helicopter training on 25 of those days (200 flight hours)
and amphibious training on 50 days.
The Bellows AFS training site is unique due to its proximity to Kaneohe Bay
and its beach access for the some 550 acres of training area."
"Bellows AFS has five inactive runways.
Three southern runways (6/24, 12/30, 3R/21L) and two northern runways (18/36 & 3L/21R).
These runways are severely deteriorated & not usable by fixed wing aircraft.
The station contains a communications transmitter facility.
There are 27 high frequency antennae, both rotatable & fixed, occupying 577 acres
[these antenna are no longer in service & have subsequently been removed].
The Bellows Recreation Center is operated by Detachment 1, 15th Air Base Wing.
The center is composed of 102 beach cottages, a small exchange & a beach club.
The Recreation Center & its support facilities occupy 154 acres.
The Air Force has a license agreement with the City & County of Honolulu
to allow the general public to use approximately 54 acres of those acres for swimming, picnicking & camping.
Such use is limited to weekends & holidays."
The Bellows installation is still owned today by the Air Force,
and its beaches are operated as a recreation facility for military families.
Bellows was still depicted as an abandoned airfield on recent Sectional Charts.
A circa 2000-2005 USGS false-color photo of the remains of the two Bellows airfields.
A circa 2000-2005 USGS aerial photo of the northern Bellows airfield.
See also: http://www.bellowsafs.com/history.html
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