Checkerboard Hill
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About
Checkerboard Hill (Chinese: ), also known as Kowloon Tsai Hill and Tak Mee Mountain , is a small hill in the northern Kowloon Peninsula of Hong Kong that formerly served as an aid to the Instrument Guidance System (IGS) for the now-closed Kai Tak Airport. Standing at 98 metres (322 ft) tall, Checkerboard Hill is located next to Kowloon Tsai Park and the Lok Fu Service Reservoir Rest Garden of Lok Fu Park , and it is not far from Lion Rock Country Park. The closest MTR station to access the Checkerboard Hill is Lok Fu.
The hill's name originates from its use as a visual aid to pilots for approach and landing onto Runway 13 of the former Kai Tak Airport. Pilots would set their onboard navigation systems to fly the Instrument Guidance System (IGS) path straight towards a large red and white checkerboard on the side of the hill. Once the checkerboard pattern was sighted and identified, they would make a low-altitude right-hand turn to align visually with Runway 13. Kai Tak Airport was demanding for pilots, and it required special training, since the approach to runway 13 could not be flown entirely by instrument, but required instead to aim towards a fixed obstacle, and then break away visually to land on its right.
Following the decommissioning of Kai Tak and the opening of Chek Lap Kok International Airport, the hill and the checkerboard became abandoned, wherein the latter became faded and overgrown with new trees. The checkerboard was not restored probably because it may confuse pilots landing at Chek Lap Kok, since the Kai Tak Runway 13 approach also involved flying over Lantau Island. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2020 to 2021, restoration work was carried out on both the west and south sides of Checkerboard Hill. The checkerboard pattern was repainted to its original colors and now acts as a monument to Kai Tak Airport.
Geography of Hong Kong List of mountains, peaks and hills in Hong Kong Lion Rock
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.