El Wak Airport (HKEW)

3 fields near El Wak?

🔗 Fri, 12 Nov 2021
— @Frits at El Wak Airport, Kenya Reply

I do not like to start a debate, but pls note following: When creating entries for the airfields around El Wak, I added a comment in the entry for the disused city airport that there were possibly two other fields nearby. One of them (a gravel strip) was clearly visible approx. 7.5 kms to the west of the city, for which I created a new entry (KE-0212). I also added a link to the newspaper article which shows people celebrating the opening of what looks like a gravel strip. It is not clear whether this is the same strip of entry KE-0212). Lastly, OpenAIP has an airport HKEW at a location to the S of El Wak city. Although nothing is visible in satellite pictures, this could indeed refer to a stretch of the main road. I therefore have absolutely no problem of HKEW being added to the database with these coordinates, as David has done.

What bothers me somewhat is that this was not done by actually adding a new airport to the database, but by taking the entry for the gravel strip located to the W of the city, and changing its coordinates and designation (KE-0212 is now HKEW). Through this change we may well have a correct HKEW entry, but we have completely lost the gravel strip to the W of El Wak city from the database. I would propose that we do not do this in future and instead preserve other entrie (unless clearly wrong).

Thx for your consideration, Frits

2km stretch

🔗 Tue, 02 Nov 2021
— @david at El Wak Airport, Kenya Reply

this article suggested the new airport is a 2 km long straight stretch on a 10km road, so this location seems to fit the bill and matches the coordinates

https://www.the-star.co.ke/counties/north-eastern/2016-02-25-new-airstrip-to-open-up-elwak-town/