Loping Airfield
Encyclopedia
Loping Airfield is a former World War II
United States Army Air Forces
airfield in the People’s Republic of China, located approximately 4 miles west-northwest of Jiexiangxiang (Yunnan Province).
" air supply route over the Himalayan Mountains, which was used by Air Transport Command
for the transhipment of supplies from airfields in the Assam Valley of India
. In 1945, Fourteenth Air Force
also used the airfield as a transport base, primarily moving Chinese troops and their equipment from the base to other locations in China. The Americans used the base until the end of December 1945, when their closed their facilities at the station.
After the airfield was closed, the facility appears to have been dismantled and the land returned to agricultural uses. Some straight-lined agricultural roads may be remnants of wartime taxiways or runways, but other than those faint traces, no remains of the facility exist today.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
airfield in the People’s Republic of China, located approximately 4 miles west-northwest of Jiexiangxiang (Yunnan Province).
History
The airfield was a primary transport base on the Chinese side of "the HumpThe Hump
The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and the units of the United States Army Air Forces based in...
" air supply route over the Himalayan Mountains, which was used by Air Transport Command
Air Transport Command
Air Transport Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its mission was to meet the urgent demand for the speedy reinforcement of the United States' military bases worldwide during World War II, using an air supply system to supplement surface transport...
for the transhipment of supplies from airfields in the Assam Valley of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. In 1945, Fourteenth Air Force
Fourteenth Air Force
The Fourteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command . It is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California....
also used the airfield as a transport base, primarily moving Chinese troops and their equipment from the base to other locations in China. The Americans used the base until the end of December 1945, when their closed their facilities at the station.
After the airfield was closed, the facility appears to have been dismantled and the land returned to agricultural uses. Some straight-lined agricultural roads may be remnants of wartime taxiways or runways, but other than those faint traces, no remains of the facility exist today.