Schleswig Air Base
| Schleswig Air Base | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | ETNS |
| IATA code | WBG |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 21 m (69 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 6.3 km south of SCHLESWIG |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1916 |
| operator | GAF (German Air Force → German Air Force ) |
| surface | 694 ha |
| Runways | |
| 05/23 | 2439 m × 30 m asphalt |
| 07/25 (UAV only) | 1998 m × 45 m asphalt |
| 16/20 (closed / partly demolished) | 1600 m × 45 m asphalt |
The Schleswig Air Base (also Schleswig-Jagel ; from 1948 to 1958 RAF Schleswigland ) is a military airfield in the area of the municipalities of Jagel and Klein Rheide near the city of Schleswig in Schleswig-Holstein . It is currently used by the Tactical Air Force Wing 51 "Immelmann" of the German Air Force .
history
The air base in Jagel was founded in 1916 and has been used for military purposes ever since. From October 1944 to February 1945 the III./Kampfgeschwader 53 flew their attacks against London and Manchester with V1 weapons from here .
The following table shows a list of selected active flying units (excluding school and supplementary units) of the Wehrmacht Air Force that were stationed here between 1939 and 1945.
| From | To | unit | equipment |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 1939 | April 1940 | I./KG 26 (I. Gruppe des Kampfgeschwader 26) | Heinkel He 111H |
| October 1939 | October 1939 | II./ZG 1 (II. Group of Destroyer Squadron 1) | Messerschmitt Bf 109E |
| November 1939 | April 1940 | I./LG 1 (I. Group of Lehrgeschwader 1) | Heinkel He 111H |
| April 1940 | April 1940 | Staff, II./LG 1 | Junkers Ju 88A |
| April 1940 | April 1940 | Combat Group 100 | Heinkel He 111H |
| September 1941 | March 1944 | II./NJG 3 | Messerschmitt Bf 110 , Dornier Do 217 , Junkers Ju 88C |
| August 1944 | December 1944 | I./NJG 3 | Messerschmitt Bf 110G-4 |
| October 1944 | February 1945 | 8./KG 53 (8th squadron of Kampfgeschwader 53) | Heinkel He 111H-16 |
| March 1945 | May 1945 | Stab, I., III./NJG 2 | Junkers Ju 88G |
On May 6, 1945, the British Air Force of Occupation took over what the Allies initially referred to as Airfield B.164 . In the summer of 1945 Typhoon IB fighter bombers of the 121st Wing (squadron) were initially lying here .
In February 1948, the field was reactivated as RAF Schleswigland and initially served as a training ground for transport planes from other stations. The Berlin Airlift (RAF code name Operation Plainfare) also took place from RAF Schleswigland from autumn 1948. During the airlift, from November 1, 1948, transport aircraft of the Handley Page Hastings type of No.47 Sqn were stationed in RAF Schleswigland , which began flights to Berlin from November 11. Later also the No.53 Sqn and the No.297 Sqn followed. Civilian operators also operated from RAF Schleswigland as part of the airlift to Berlin. Lancashire Aircraft Corp. was the first among them . from November 24, 1948 with Handley Page Halifax (HP70 Halton) converted to transport fuel . From January 25, 1949, British American Air Services started with HP70 Halton, followed by Scottish Airlines from February 19, 1949 with Consolidated B-24 . Westminster Airways also operated with HP70 Halton. The last flight to Berlin from RAF Schleswigland took place on October 6, 1949, which also marked the end of Operation Plainfare.
In the 1950s, the 2nd TTF was stationed in RAF Schleswigland with target tow planes of the type de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito TT.35 (Target Tug). On May 1, 1958, the Royal Air Force finally closed the site and handed it over completely to the German military.
During the Cold War, the air base in Jagel was home to Naval Aviation Wing 1 , which for years was equipped with Hawker Sea Hawk , F-104 Starfighter and later with Tornado IDS . On January 1, 1994, the squadron was transferred to the Air Force as Reconnaissance Wing 51 " Immelmann " (since October 1, 2013 Tactical Air Force Wing 51 "Immelmann" ) . The annual NATO Tiger Meet took place here in 2004 and 2014 .
Incidents
- On 1 April 1949 (probably on the night of 31 March to 1 April), it came with a during the Berlin Airlift from the airport Berlin-Gatow coming Handley Page Halifax C.8 of the British Westminster Airways ( air vehicle registration G-AHDL) crash-landed at the Schleswigland military airfield. All three crew members survived unharmed. The aircraft was totaled.
- On April 6, 1949 began Handley Page Hastings C.1 of the Royal Air Force (TG534) on the military airfield Schleswig country when starting the engines fire. The machine was used for the Berlin Airlift . A fuel leak was found to be the cause. The crew remained uninjured and the aircraft was destroyed.
Persistence
A civil joint use of the airfield was planned from 2011 at the earliest. Civil-commercial air traffic with a focus on charter and low-cost flights should be carried out. To a lesser extent, scheduled air traffic and demand air traffic were planned. To this end, a preliminary contract was signed between the Federal Republic of Germany and AIRGATE SH GmbH & Co. KG in October 2005. After long fruitless negotiations with military and civil authorities, an application was made to delete Airgate from the commercial register. There does not seem to be any civil use in the foreseeable future. A move by GFD GmbH based at Hohn Air Base is uncertain.
Schleswig is the location for the training of tornado pilots. The first course started on April 24, 2017. So far, the training has taken place in the US state of New Mexico. There were around 260 hours of theory, 75 hours of simulator and around 50 training flights for the budding tornado pilots and weapons system officers on the program. According to the air force, it will be similar at Schleswig airfield. In 2018, major delays in training became known, mainly due to the significantly poorer weather and a lack of staff in the area of flight instructors.
Others
On the nearby federal motorway 7 there was a temporary motorway airport . It could be recognized by the fact that the median was not greened, but asphalted. In the meantime, this route and the infrastructure in the adjacent parking lots have been completely dismantled.
See also
literature
- Arthur Pearcey: Berlin Airlift . Airlife Publishing 1997, ISBN 1-85310-845-6
Web links
- Airport data on World Aero Data ( 2006 )
- Radio play DarkSpace 2046 , which takes place on this air base
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Dierich: The Air Force Associations 1935-1945 , Verlag Heinz Nickel , ISBN 3-925480-15-3 , p. 126
- ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders) , accessed on August 29, 2014
- ^ Accident report HP Halifax C.8 G-AHDL , Aviation Safety Network WikiBase , accessed on March 7, 2019.
- ↑ James J. Halley: Broken Wings. Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents . Air-Britain (Historians), Tunbridge Wells, 1999, ISBN 0-85130-290-4 , p. 87.
- ↑ accident report HP Hastings TG534 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 7 March of 2019.
- ↑ Press release from June 17, 2014
- ↑ Alf Clasen: Air Force Wing 51 “Immelmann”: It gets louder in the sky over Jagel. shz.de, May 28, 2017, accessed October 2, 2017 .
- ^ Alf Clasen: Pilot training with obstacles. In: Schleswiger Nachrichten. February 10, 2018, accessed May 20, 2019 .