Quirky Airport Information

[Cocitus23]

My mention above of IATA three letter airport codes reminds me that there are some very quirky ones out there. We are just so damn prosaic here in Australia. MEL, SYD, PER etc. So boring. At least JFK and CDG honour great men of history. But some just leave you scratching your head. Take, for example, the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Wouldn't you expect something like NOL, or maybe SMO? But no. It's MSY. So where the devil did that come from? It actually comes from the very non-salubrious Moisant Stock Yards. It seems that way, way back in the early days of aviation some daredevil named Moisant crashed his plane and killed himself, and maybe a cow or two, in a stock yards on the site. So the code perpetuates an aviation disaster and a stinking cow lot. Hardly what you would expect to promote the city.
Still, on that score, of promoting the city, it does better than Sioux City, Iowa, which has chosen SUX. The sign directing drivers from the Interstate to the airport, "Sioux City SUX" was hardly devised by the tourist promotion board.

 

[JohnM]

OMG - Omega Airport, Namibia.

 

[Boca68]

<snip>

3. IATA code. One would hope that the same town clerk would apply for and be granted the 3-letter code DIG for the landing strip. But, damn! I just checked, and it has already been granted to Diqing airport at (wait for it) Shangri-La in China. And I didn't even know that there was such a place as Shangri-La. I just thought it was somewhere mythological.

I give you Shangri-La (DIG) Nice looking spot too.

 

[Boca68]

OMG - Omega Airport, Namibia.

LOL - Derby Field, Lovelock Nevada.


Heard this before, decided to check it on Google earth. Looks like an old Military field but just General Aviaton now in a rather non-descript desert location. Do love the Mig-15 at the control tower.

 

[Cocitus23]

Great photo, Boca68. Sure makes a contrast with John M's photo of the strip at the Dig Tree, doesn't it! By the way, JohnM, you say that they are cow pats on the runway, but are you sure they were not produced by camels? The only way to tell is to get down on your hands and knees and sniff.

Also Boca68, good photo of LOL. You guys are amazing for digging up this stuff.

Say, one thing that disappoints me in this thread is that no-one has picked up on OOL straddling two states. Surely we have someone up there in SE Queensland who has some knowledge. For example, does Queensland have to send a cheque to Sydney to cover NSW's share of the payroll tax on the maintenance workers? (Just joking there, but surely there are some such idiotic issues.)

 

[Boca68]

Great photo, Boca68. Sure makes a contrast with John M's photo of the strip at the Dig Tree, doesn't it! By the way, JohnM, you say that they are cow pats on the runway, but are you sure they were not produced by camels? The only way to tell is to get down on your hands and knees and sniff.

Also Boca68, good photo of LOL. You guys are amazing for digging up this stuff.

Say, one thing that disappoints me in this thread is that no-one has picked up on OOL straddling two states. Surely we have someone up there in SE Queensland who has some knowledge. For example, does Queensland have to send a cheque to Sydney to cover NSW's share of the payroll tax on the maintenance workers? (Just joking there, but surely there are some such idiotic issues.)

Thanks Cocitus23,

I like my planes, but I love my airports. Strange to some, but landing at a new airport is discovering a new world.

Yes, I've (tried to) slept 10 hours in a cold freezing Buenos Aires (EZE) overnight , before the current airport. Approx November 2006. Would not recommend it for comfort, but the experience was awesome. Not to go into geo-political debates, but to wake up in the middle of night to see an undocumented arrival of an An-124. Approx 3am local time, was like an addicts best high.

Why they screened off the unloading, is anyones guess. ?? I'm sure it wasn't to offload TVs. Certainly was several vehicles of the military kind. And truck loads of "stuff"

Had pics, but lost them soon after when laptop crashed...and no backup!!! arrrgh!!

 

[JohnM]

Guess the airport:

 

[clazman]

Guess the airport:

It is not Kalgoorlie, Newman, Broome or Port Hedland, may be Shay Gap?

 

[Cocitus23]

Hi Boca68, You say that
landing at a new airport is discovering a new world. Somehow I share that odd feeling. I save new airports the way some people save postage stamps or butterflies. I save them by adding them to my list. It's an Excel spreadsheet with nothing much on it, except the name of each airport, its state or country, and its IASTA code. Currently there are 184 entries. To qualify for entry, I simply have to landed or taken off from the airport. I also note if I simply transited the airport, i.e. did not commence or complete my journey there. 24 of the 184 are in this transit category. My most recent addition was LDH (Lord Howe Island). I don't travel much any more, so there won't be too many more additions.

 

[JohnM]

It is not Kalgoorlie, Newman, Broome or Port Hedland, may be Shay Gap?

Nope. Anyone else want to try before I reveal it? It's a classic Australian place.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

landing at a new airport is discovering a new world. Somehow I share that odd feeling. I save new airports the way some people save postage stamps or butterflies.

Discovering a new world......or a lost one! I took these photos on Sunday. Pic 1 is the airfield (not sure airport is the right description) showing the surrounding terrain and pic 2 is a zoom in to the landing strip. Not so sure it fits in a "Quirky Airport Information" thread, but should feel right at home in a "Queasy Airport Information" thread! :shock: :mrgreen:. In case of anxiety, place your head between your knees ......... and kiss your backside goodbye!

 

[JohnM]

Looks like somewhere in PNG, maybe?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Looks like somewhere in PNG, maybe?

Yep. You win!

 

[JohnM]

I had better reveal mine before it scrolls into oblivion.

BVI - Birdsville.

If you look at where the 5 aircraft are lined up, the famous pub is just across the road - large green roof. No need for a shuttle or a taxi at BVI :mrgreen:.

 

[Mick1969]

Adding to the "what airport is this?" Nusatupe Island serving Gizo in the Solomon Islands, this has always fascinated me.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Adding to the "what airport is this?" Nusatupe Island serving Gizo in the Solomon Islands, this has always fascinated me.

Looks like an aircraft carrier that's run aground!

 

[Cocitus23]

Yes, John M, I guessed it was a classic Aussie town, or else you would not have put it up. The shape of the footy field tells me it's in Aussie Rules territory rather than rugby, so I think that rules out Queensland. I'll go for Oodnadatta.

Cocitus23

 

[clazman]

Yes, John M, I guessed it was a classic Aussie town, or else you would not have put it up. The shape of the footy field tells me it's in Aussie Rules territory rather than rugby, so I think that rules out Queensland. I'll go for Oodnadatta.

Cocitus23

He named the town two posts above BVI - Birdsville.

 

[Cocitus23]

Sorry, John M, I didn't notice that you had already declared it to be Birdsville. And, of course, that must be the famous racetrack with the grandstand, not the footy oval. And the photo ties in wonderfully well with Burke & Wills, because their Camp 76 was right by the racecourse.

Swanning_it, I liked your PNG photo. I landed a number of times at Tabubil "airport", which served the Ok Tedi mine in the very early days before the mine was developed. Is that it?

Mick 1969, I picked it as the Solomons. I went through Munda airport several times on the way to Bougainville. Munda is on a much bigger island and is remarkable for the length of the runway, built by the Americans during WW2, and also for the terminal, a hangar built by the Japanese when they held the island.

Cocitus23

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I had better reveal mine before it scrolls into oblivion.BVI - Birdsville.

I was going to stab at Tindal, but I didn't think Tindal had that large tarmac area..........Birdsville surprises me as I actually thought it was a grass (dirt) strip. Live and learn.

Swanning_it, I liked your PNG photo. I landed a number of times at Tabubil "airport", which served the Ok Tedi mine in the very early days before the mine was developed. Is that it?

No not Tabubil, it's a no name strip that serves a few villages......no roads there, it's after the end of the Highlands Highway (which is not much of a road itself).