Dreux-Vernouillet airport
| Dreux-Vernouillet Aerodrome | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | LFON | ||
| IATA code | XDR | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 135 m (443 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 4 km south of Dreux | ||
| Street |
D 828 2 km to the N 154 |
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| Basic data | |||
| operator | Communauté d'Agglomérations du Drouais | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| 04/22 | 720 m of grass | ||
The Aérodrome de Dreux-Vernouillet is an airfield that would be called a commercial airfield in Germany . The airport is in the Region Center-Val de Loire in the department of Eure-et-Loir in the field of both communities Vernouillet and Garnay , about four kilometers south of Dreux . It is mainly used for general aviation .
The airfield is not to be confused with about 15 km to the west located earlier Dreux-Louvilliers Air Base , a former NATO - military airport of United States Air Forces in Europe from the time of the Cold War .
Second World War
After the start of the western campaign , the French Armée de l'Air took over the facility. In the final phase of the fighting there was a hunting group provided by the Poles in exile, the Groupe de Chasse Polonaise I / 145 (GC I / 145). She flew Caudron CR.714 interceptors. After the armistice, the airfield became a base for the German Air Force .
During the Battle of Britain was here between the beginning of August 1940 and mid-April 1941, the Group I of the kampfgeschwader 55 stationed (I./KG 55), she was with He 111P / H equipped.
After a break of several years, the next user from the end of December 1943 was initially the 2nd Squadron Kampfgeschwaders 51 (2./KG 51) and from the end of April 1944 further parts of the I. Group (I./KG 51). The association's Me 410A left the base in late May 1944.
In the first ten days after the start of the Allied invasion of Normandy , the Fw 190A of the I. Group of Schnellkampfgeschwader 10 (I./SKG 10) flew missions over the front from Dreux. In parallel to this, the Fw 190A of the IV. Group of Jagdgeschwader 3 (IV./JG 3) were also here in the first week . The last German user between mid-July and August 1944 was the staff of the same squadron (S./JG 3), which owned some Bf 109G .
After the liberation by Allied ground troops, the partially destroyed area was immediately repaired and after a short time used as Airfield A.41 by the Ninth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).
Dreux was initially an operational base for airborne combat units. Between the middle of September and the beginning of October 1944, this included the 397th Bombardment Group , equipped with B-26, and the 366th Fighter Group with its P-47 at the turn of the month between September and October .
With the advance of the Allies to the east, the airfield became a replenishment base and as such, from the beginning of November 1944, a base for the 441st Troop Carrier Group equipped with C-47s . It stayed here until mid-August 1945 and then the airfield was returned to France.
Time after 1945
After the beginning of the Cold War , the USA considered expanding Dreux-Vernouillet into a NATO base suitable for jets . This idea was rejected by France. The reasons for this were the proximity to the control zone of the then expanding Paris Orly airport , the proximity to the two eponymous locations and plans to develop the airfield into a civil airport. Instead of Dreux-Vernouillet, the Dreux-Louvilliers military airfield was built further west.
The growing air traffic to and from Orly became an increasing problem, so the airport's fortified facilities were eventually demolished. Instead of the concrete runway, the only grass runway that is still used today was built.