Bilbays Air Base
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Bilbays Air Base is an Egyptian Air Force airbase located near Bilbeis, Sharqia Governorate, Egypt. It was formerly RAF Bilbeis, a Royal Air Force station operational during the Second World War.
| Bilbays Air Base | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
قاعدة بلبيس الجوية | |||||||||||||||
| Bilbeis, Sharqia Governorate in Egypt | |||||||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||||||
| Type | Air Base | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defense (Egypt) | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Egyptian Air Force | ||||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 30°23′42″N 031°36′05″E | ||||||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||||||
| Built | 1985 | ||||||||||||||
| In use | 1985 - present | ||||||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 27 metres (89 ft) AMSL | ||||||||||||||
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The air base is home to the Egyptian Air Academy that operates No. 3 & 5 Squadrons which flies the Grob G 115EG as part of 101 Air Brigade, along with No. 28 and 29 Squadrons which flies the Hongdu K-8E as part of the 201 Air Wing and No. 54 Squadron which flies the Aérospatiale SA342L Gazelle as part of 301 Air Wing.[1]
- Former RAF units
- Detachment from No. 31 Squadron RAF between September 1941 and February 1942 with the Douglas DC-2[2]
- No. 117 Squadron RAF between 3 November 1941 and 5 July 1943 with the de Havilland DH.86 Express, Lockheed Hudson VI, Lockheed Lodestar and the Douglas DC-3[3]
- No. 162 Squadron RAF between January 1942 and 4 April 1943 with the Vickers Wellington IC, Bristol Blenheim IV & V[4]
- No. 267 Squadron RAF between 18 August 1942 and 9 January 1943 with the Lodestar, Messerschmitt Bf 109F, Hudson IV & VI and the DC-3[5]