Camden airstrip, a wasted asset
, 2023-01-19 01:13:28,
Newsday Reporter
In 1941, during World War II, the US by agreement with the UK established an army and naval base at Wallerfield with two runways. In 1942, Carlsen Field, Chaguanas was opened as an overflow facility for the US Air Transport Command aircraft headed for nearby Wallerfield. It grew into a sprawling complex with three parallel paved runways and an airship operating area becoming the largest airbase in Trinidad.
In 1942, the US military began construction of another airstrip at Couva known as the Camden Auxiliary Air Base with a 4,500 feet runway to be used primarily for anti-aircraft training and aircraft maintenance.
The locations of the air bases were strategically chosen as the land was flat and the takeoff, approach and landing paths for aircraft were free from obstacles such as hills or mountains.
During the post-war era, the US handed over all the infrastructure at Chaguaramas and the runways at Wallerfield, Carlsen Field and Camden to the government of TT.
Camden Auxiliary Air Base remained unused until the late sixties when Caroni (1937) Ltd. the predecessor to Caroni (1974) Ltd, began to use the airstrip for aerial crop-dusting. With the closure of the sugar industry in 2003, Camden became dormant once more. It was a wasting asset with great potential for the establishment of aviation-related businesses such as an aeropark with a 7,500 feet runway.
In 2013, the TT Civil Aviation Authority…
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