Rayak Air Base

Rayak Air Base

قاعدة رياق الجوية

Base Aérienne de Rayak
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OwnerLebanese Armed Forces
OperatorLebanese Air Force
LocationRayak, Lebanon
Elevation AMSL2,953 ft / 900 m
Coordinates33°51′08″N 35°59′25″E / 33.85222°N 35.99028°E / 33.85222; 35.99028
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04 3,039 9,970 Concrete (Direction: 046.0)
22 2,969 9,740 Concrete (Direction: 226.0)
Hawker Hurricane fighters from No. 451 Squadron RAAF at Rayak in 1942
An Australian soldier (Clive H. Roughley) standing in the cockpit of a French Bloch MB.200 at Rayak in 1941

Rayak Air Base (Arabic: قاعدة رياق الجوية | Kaidat Rayak al-jawiya) (ICAO: OLRA) is Lebanon's first air base and the place where the Lebanese Air Force was born on June 1, 1949. In the 1950s, the RAF sent its own instructors to help the Lebanese Airforce. British families accompanied instructors. The base had connections with Airforce bases in Cyprus. It was an idyllic location situated very close to a vineyard which now supplies wines throughout Europe, including London. Located in the middle of the Bekaa Valley to the east, between the towns of Zahlé and Anjar, it symbolizes the Lebanese Air Force best, and is home for most of the aircraft types that have seen service and the final resting place for almost all retiring planes.[1]

The airfield has been in use since 1914 by various foreign forces such as German, Ottoman, British and French.

  1. ^ Mitilian, Vatche. "Lebanese Air Force - Air Bases". Vatche Mitilian's Independent Guide To The Lebanese Air Force. Archived from the original on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-11-23.

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