Grande Semaine d'Aviation d'Égypte
Heliopolis, Egypt, February 6th - 13th, 1910

The Heliopolis airfield

The airfield was constructed on the flat empty desert floor. A five-kilometre rectangular (1,500 by 1,000 meters) course was laid out and marked by pylons. The installations were rather typical for early airfields. As usual on early airfields the hangars were arranged so that the take-offs would be made in front of the grandstands. Two grandstands were built, a big one opposite the start/finish line and a smaller one with green silk muslin curtains in front. This was referred to as the "tribune harem" and was intended for women.

The airfield remained in use until World War One, when the British built a new airfield immediately to the southeast. This later became RAF Heliopolis and now is the Almaza air force base.

Today there is no trace of the original airfield site, which has been covered by streets and buildings.

map
The plan of the airfield from the meeting program. North is at around two o'clock.
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Some of the hangars. (1)







Métrot flying over the veiled "harem" grandstand, which was reserved for women. (1)






Rougier in his #14 Voisin passes the time-keepers in front of the grandstands. The start/finish line stretches 250 metres across the course towards the time-keepers' cabin. (2)
A postcard image of the empty grandstands, with restaurant tables in front and flags stretched out in the hard wind. The hangars are visible in the background. (3)

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