Kaitak Reborn

Kaitak - A word being used to refer to an exciting, dangerous and challenging ride into Hong Kong by every aviation enthusiast, and the Mecca of every aviation spotter.
But how special is Kaitak? What makes Kaitak special?

I am never good at describing things, never ever. Therefore, I believe it is good to quote some of the sentences written by famous writers in which may perhaps give you some ideas of what they have experienced in departures and arrivals of Kaitak.
Here you are:

"Aircraft took off from the south east,the runway aiming for the sea. However, rarely,
aircraft had to take off facing inland. This meant that as soon as it was clearing of the ground the aircraft had to veer sharp left to avoid crashing into Kowloon hills. These rose to nearly 1900 feet at a distance from the end of the runway of not much more than 2 miles.
Pilot regarded it as one of the most dangerous and demanding airports in the world."
(Quoted from Gweilo: A memoir of a Hong Kong childhood P.62. Written by Martin Booth, 2003)

"Kaitak had long been saturated. Moreover, as any who have used it will know, to arrive there from the west is an experience that can drive even atheists to prayer."
(Quoted from East and West P.40. Written by Chris Patten, 1998)

What made Kaitak so famous was, of course, the approach path of runway 13 -
Surrounded by mountainous area of Northern Kowloon,
and above one of the most populated area of Hong Kong - Kowloon City.

But actually, the most challenging one of Kaitak was the departure path of runway 31 -
Not only was the path surrounded by mountainous area and above populated area, but it also required all flights to bank sharply to the left and fly along the face of the hills.
This was just too amazing to see a plane rolling on the runway, facing 2000 feet of Kowloon Hills and turning sharply to the left as soon as it got airborne.
It was, indeed, an Airshow showing every day until the retirement of Kaitak, on the 5th July, 1998.

Despite her retirement, this was not the end of the story and legend. The Kaitak airport is still open for flyers from all over the world in VATSIM.
Now everyone, from a student to an experienced real-world pilot, can have a try to land a plane on this legendary airport.

Just few days ago, there were several flyers from UK and Hong Kong showing their excellent flying skills at Kaitak. Here are some screenshots from the radar screen:

3 flights were being sequenced to the IGS.

G-BOAC was in the middle of the queue.

QFA3128 was intercepting the localiser.

There were 3 planes on the IGS!