Almaza Air Base
military airfield/former airport (Egypt)
Almaza Air Base is a Air base of the Egyptian Air Force located in Heliopolis, Cairo, Cairo Governorate. It was established as a civilian aerodrome, but was partly taken over by the British military, designated RAF Almaza. Today it is a military aerodrome of the Egyptian Air Force.
History
The aerodrome was established in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis in February 1910, when Baron Empain organised the first air meeting in Africa. The event was supervised by the Aéro-Club de France, and attracted several leading French aviators, including Hubert Latham, Henri Rougier, Jacques Balsan, Hubert Le Blon, Mme. Raymonde de Laroche, and Belgian Arthur Duray. Other entrants included Hans Grade from Germany, Frederick van Riemsdijk from the Netherlands, and Hayden Sands from the USA (although apparently not an official entrant). The only British flier, Mortimer Singer, crashed during a practice flight, breaking his leg, and was forced to withdraw. The aerodrome remained active until the First World War, when the British Army built a new airfield immediately to the south-east. The original airfield site has now been completely built over, and is partially occupied by the Egyptian Military Academy.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Almaza Air Base” is military airfield/former airport (Egypt). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Almaza, Base and military, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “military airfield/former airport (Egypt)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q11824207. Authority coordinates are 30.092, 31.360. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1910.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Almaza Air Base” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.