Heck Field Explained

Heck Field
Nativename:Jacobs Well Airfield
Icao:YHEC
Type:Private
Owner:W.H. Heck & Sons Pty Ltd
Operator:Gold Coast Sports Flying Club
Location:1638 Stapylton – Jacobs Well Road, Norwell, Queensland
Elevation-F:10
Coordinates:-27.7677°N 153.3394°W
Pushpin Map:Australia Gold Coast#Queensland#Australia#Oceania
Pushpin Label:YHEC
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Queensland
Metric-Rwy:Y
R1-Number:10/28
R1-Length-M:700
R1-Surface:Gravel
R2-Number:18/36
R2-Length-M:640
R2-Surface:Gravel
Footnotes:Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart[1]

Heck Field, also known as Jacobs Well Airfield is a small airfield in Norwell, on the northern outskirts of the City of Gold Coast, in Queensland. The privately owned and operated facility serves as a base for the Gold Coast Sports Flying Club and provides facilities for flight training and recreational aviation.

Airport facilities and operations

Heck Field has two runways, with crushed gravel over grass surfaces measuring 700m (2,300feet) long by 10m (30feet) wide on runway 10/28 and 640m (2,100feet) by 15m (49feet) for runway 18/36, suitable for light-sport category aircraft. It is restricted to single-engine general aviation types and operates only during daylight hours. As an uncontrolled airport with a low volume of traffic, pilots are required to communicate via a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) shared with nearby Southport Airport to safely co-ordinate arrivals and departures. [1] The Jacobs Well VOR radio-navigation aid was located approximately 1km (01miles) north-west of the airfield prior to its decommissioning in May 2016.[2]

In addition to the Gold Coast Sports Flying Club, tenants at Heck Field include the Australian Pacific Aviation flight school[3] and formerly Foxbat Australia, the Australian dealer for Aeroprakt aircraft (now based at Albury Airport in New South Wales).[4] The airfield has been used as a filming location, with scenes from movies including San Andreas and Dora and the Lost City of Gold shot here.[5]

See also

Notes and References

  1. , Aeronautical Chart
  2. Web site: Navigation Rationalisation Project - Decommissioning List. Airservices Australia. 2015. 12 January 2024. 12 January 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240112015621/https://yaffa-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/yaffadsp/files/dmfile/Navaid_decommission_List_20160114.pdf. live.
  3. Web site: About Us. Australian Pacific Aviation. 12 January 2024. 12 January 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240112015621/https://flyapa.com.au/about-us/. live.
  4. Web site: Our Story. Foxbat Australia. 12 January 2024. 12 January 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240112015621/https://www.foxbat.com.au/our-story. live.
  5. Web site: Movie Filming. Gold Coast Sports Flying Club. 11 January 2024. 11 January 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240111000739/https://www.gcsfc.org.au/movie-filming-on-the-gold-coast/. live.