Canadian Forces Base Shearwater
| Canadian Forces Base Shearwater | |
|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | CYAW |
| IATA code | YAW |
| Coordinates | |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 3 miles west of Halifax |
| Street | Main Road |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1918 |
| operator | Royal Canadian Air Force |
| Runways | |
| 16H / 34H | 1067 m of asphalt |
| 1 | 46 m asphalt |
| 2 | 46 m asphalt |
Canadian Forces Base Shearwater (IATA: YAW, ICAO: CYAW), (short: CFB Shearwater), was a Canadian air force base in Shearwater , Nova Scotia , in the eastern part of the port of Halifax . Due to rationalization measures in the mid-1990s, the armed forces closed CFB Shearwater as an independent base and integrated it into the CFB Halifax naval base , which is located in the immediate vicinity of the airfield.
The transformation included:
- The Shearwater Heliport (airfield) operated by the 12th Wing, a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force . The unit has multiple helicopters and operates flights for the Canadian Navy and its Atlantic Fleet. The headquarters of the 12th Wing is also located on the airfield. The 12th Wing operates another airfield, on the west coast of Canada at the Patricia Bay Heliport in British Columbia. This airfield serves the Canadian Navy and its Pacific fleet.
- Shearwater Jetty the CFB Shearwater Annex, which offers moorings for the Navy ship fleet.
history
Shearwater is the second oldest military airfield in Canada. In August 1918, the US Navy established a Naval Air Station in eastern Halifax to station and service its patrol seaplanes. The land-based airfield was opened for civil air traffic in 1920. Later the Canadian Air Force and then the Royal Canadian Air Force used the base. The airfield was renamed RCAF Dartmouth and later RCAF Station Shearwater during World War II . After the war in 1948, the Royal Canadian Navy took over the site and renamed it HMCS Shearwater. It is also known as the Royal Canadian Naval Air Station Shearwater (RCNAS Shearwater).
The combined land and sea-based use of the airfield was used to relocate combat aircraft and patrol ships to the base. For the same reason, experiments with novel helicopter and ship combinations were carried out at Shearwater. During the 1960s, flight exercises were carried out at the base.
When on February 1, 1968 the three armed forces Navy, Army and Air Force were merged, the base was renamed CFB Shearwater.
In the mid-1990s, the base became part of the Canadian Navy Base Halifax.
Current usage
The operational and administrative operations of the base are carried out by CFB Halifax. These include:
- Shearwater Heliport - Heliport and the necessary infrastructure, including support units of the 12th Wing. The 12th Wing is a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force that operates helicopter missions for the Royal Canadian Navy.
- Shearwater Jetty - includes docks and the respective infrastructure and support units of the Maritime Forces Atlantic. Furthermore, the docks of the Shearwater harbor area are not open to the public and are therefore isolated from downtown Halifax. NATO warships such as nuclear-powered submarines or aircraft carriers often dock in the port .
The 12th Wing has four squadrons in two locations:
- Shearwater Heliport 406 Maritime Operational Training Squadron is an operational training squadron on which all helicopter crews are trained.
- 423th Maritime Helicopter Squadron is a squadron on the Shearwater Heliport that provides flight operations for the Canadian Navy with several CH-124 SeaKing helicopters . (CH-124 SeaKing will be replaced by CH-148-Cyclone in 2018 )
- 12th Air Maintenance Squadron includes the maintenance and repair of the helicopters stationed there.
- The Helicopter Operational Evaluation and Test Facility (HOTEF) houses a development and test center for the helicopters.
- Patricia Bay Heliport 443th Maritime Helicopter Squadron is a squadron in British Columbia that provides flight operations for the Canadian Navy with several CH-124 SeaKing helicopters . (CH-124 SeaKing will be replaced by CH-48-Cyclone ).