八塊飛行場（Batei Airdrome）

位於當今桃園縣八德市（舊稱八塊厝）的八塊飛行場（美軍的二戰空照圖稱之為Okaseki[岡崎？，據網友WENWANG考證，應為鶯歌石]，我用的是台灣堡圖上的日文バテ一譯音Batei），跟紅毛飛行場與後龍飛行場一樣，在主跑道之外，都有一條狹長但筆直的區域。之前我把這項設施稱為主滑行道，但它一定兼有起飛或降落的功能，不然不需要蓋得又長又直，所以這次就改稱為副跑道。日治時代的飛行場因為有多機同時起飛作戰的需要，所以跑道都建得很寬，這三座飛行場的主跑道都跟多條疏散道相連，應該也是為了能讓多架飛機迅速進入起飛位置。副跑道不但較窄，跟它連接的疏散道也比較少，所以應該只有輔助的性質。
Batei Airdrome was referred to as Okaseki on American aerial reconnaissance photos taken during WWII, although I could not locate any place called Okaseki in the neighborhood. Like Kokko and Koryu Airdromes, Batei also had a long and straight strip in addition to the main runway. I think the strip was used as an auxiliary runway because fewer taxiways were connected to it than to the main runway.

不過我在八塊飛行場的副跑道上，卻發現了一些建築物（下圖），實質上縮短了這條副跑道的可用長度。下圖中橫越副跑道的，就是現在的興豐路。
On Batei’s auxiliary runway, I found several building as shown in the next photo, which in effect shortened its usable length.

八塊飛行場的飛機掩體，是最常見的V字型（下圖中與右）。另外我也發現了一種比較窄的掩體（下圖左），用途不明。
Batei had the V-shaped aircraft revetments, which were commonly found on other WWII airdromes on Taiwan. I also found another smaller revetment (on the left side of the next photo), whose exact function could not be confirmed.

在下面這張1969年拍攝的CORONA衛星照片中，八塊飛行場的輪廓依然清晰可見，只有最東邊的一條疏散道消失不見。
In the following 1969 CORONA satellite image, Batei Airdrome was visible, although the taxiway on the east side had vanished.

從現代的衛星照片來看，後來改建的八德（懷生）機場主跑道並非利用日治時代的主跑道來擴建，當年的主跑道已從地表上消失。但是副跑道所留下的遺跡仍然清楚可見，現在的興豐路774巷、781巷與永忠街、興豐路825巷所夾起來的狹長區域，就是當年副跑道的所在。以往的疏散道則成為大興路與榮興路的一部份。
Bade Air Base (later renamed Huaishen Air Base) was built on the location of the former Batei Airdrome. From the following Google Earth image, it is clear that the runway of Bade Air Base was not an expansion of the old main runway. Although the Japanese main runway has long gone, the auxiliary runway has left marks on the landscape. The long and narrow area sitting between Lanes 774 and 781, XingFeng Road and Lane 825, XingFeng Road and YongZhong Street tells us where the auxiliary runway used to be.

• Download the kmz file of the airdrome plan for Google Earth.
• View the airdrome plan on Google Maps.