Lueneburg airfield

Lueneburg airfield
Luneburg
Characteristics
ICAO code	EDHG
Coordinates	53 ° 14 '57 "  N , 10 ° 27' 52"  E Coordinates: 53 ° 14 '57 "  N , 10 ° 27' 52"  E
Height above MSL	49 m (161  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	3 km east of Lüneburg
Street	Federal motorway 39 Federal road 4 Federal road 209 Federal road 216
Local transport	Bus route 5010
Basic data
operator	Luftsportverein Lüneburg e. V.
Start-and runway
07/25	980 m × 30 m grass
website
https://edhg.de

The airfield Lueneburg is east of the heart situated Sonderlandeplatz . It is approved for powered aircraft , powered gliders , microlights and gliders up to a maximum weight of 2000 kg. Helicopters are permitted up to a weight of 5700 kg and balloon rides can be undertaken from the airfield. It serves the Lüneburg region as a popular destination for families as well as for external private pilots and Lüneburg business people. The airfield thus fulfills an important role as an infrastructural hub and for club life in the Lüneburg Heath region.

history

Before the civil use of today's special airfield was an air base of the Air Force of the Armed Forces .

The following table shows a list of selected active flying units (excluding school and supplementary associations) that were stationed here between 1938 and 1945.

From	To	unit
April 1938	April 1939	II./KG 257 (II. Gruppe des Kampfgeschwaders 257)
May 1939	August 1939	Staff, II./KG 26
October 1939	October 1939	I./KG 4
October 1939	January 1940	I./KG 1
October 1939	November 1939	II./KG 1
January 1940	April 1940	III./KG 4
February 1940	August 1940	Combat Group 100
April 1940	April 1940	I./KG 40
June 1940	June 1940	I./KG 26
January 1941	July 1941	II./KG 40
November 1941	April 1943	7./NJG 3 (7th Squadron of Night Fighter Squadron 3)
February 1944	April 1944	III./JG 54 ( III.Group of Jagdgeschwader 54)
November 1944	November 1944	Parts of III./NJG 5
April 1945	April 1945	III./JG 1

On April 18, 1944, the Lüneburg air base was bombed by about thirty aircraft during an air raid on Lüneburg and severely damaged, but it remained operational. After the conquest by the Allies in the spring of 1945, who initially referred to this military airfield as Airfield B.156 , the British Air Force of Occupation continued to use the airfield, later known as RAF Lüneburg , for some time. In 1945 the No. 39 (Recon) Wing of the RCAF and between December 1947 and April 1949 No. 652 Squadron with their oyster observation planes ; the squadron was later transferred to the Army .

Approval to operate the landing site was granted at the request of the City of Lüneburg and the Luftsportverein Lüneburg e. V. (LVL) with final approval in July 1998 by the then Weser-Ems district government. The approximately 20 hectare landing area is owned by the city and was made available to the air sports club free of charge until 2015.

In 1993 and 1995 concerts from the Rock Over Germany series with artists such as Tina Turner, Prince, Joe Cocker and Rod Stewart took place at the airfield .

On January 5, 2012, the Lüneburg regional newspaper reported on a possible closure of the airfield by Lüneburg's Lord Mayor Ulrich Mädge in order to create new commercial space. The air sports club, as the operator of the field, then started a signature campaign in order to preserve the airfield.

On August 29, 2019, the city of Lüneburg initially decided not to extend the lease agreement with the operator, so that the airfield should have closed at the end of 2020. The Lüneburg air sports club then launched a successful referendum. In the referendum held on June 14, 2020, a large majority of around 82% voted in favor of keeping the airfield. The turnout was around 36%. The previous lease of the air sports club for the use of the airfield, which expires in autumn 2020, is now to be extended by 15 years.

Todays use

The special landing site is operated by the Luftsportverein Lüneburg e. V. (LVL) with its more than 100 members. The air sports club pays € 15,000 annual rent to the city for use. It also serves as the location for one of the two aircraft of the Lower Saxony fire brigade air service . In the summer season (March to October) the airfield is manned by a flight controller on weekends from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (local time) . Circuits for training for powered aircraft are not permitted with due consideration for the surrounding residents, but training for an ultralight pilot's license is offered on site. Usually approaches are practiced at the surrounding areas, such as the Uelzen airfield . The glider training is not subject to any restrictions.

Furthermore, parts of the airfield serve as a compensation area for the construction of the Audimax ; in February / March 2018, protective areas for the crested lark were prepared.

criticism

Lüneburg airfield has already been discussed several times. Above all, the increased noise pollution of residents and safety concerns due to the operation of the airfield in the city area are noted. In 2009 a citizens' initiative was formed in Lüneburg to counteract the negative effects of aircraft noise. The airfield, on the other hand, receives support from environmentalists, as the area around the runway serves as a shelter for plants and animals, some of which are rare.

Accidents and incidents

In recent years, several aircraft accidents have occurred on the airfield or in the immediate vicinity.

• September 14, 2002: A Cessna crashed into the street Stadtkoppel, approx. 100 m from the Rudolf Steiner School and in the immediate vicinity of the residential area.
• June 26, 2004: Failed emergency landing of a Cessna 172 on Meisterweg, three people on board.
• January 15, 2005: Pilot misses the runway at Lüneburg airfield, four-seater machine overturns, two injured.
• June 29, 2008: Failed emergency landing of an ultralight aircraft in the Tiergartenkamp, ​​two people on board.
• March 31, 2009: A single-seat microlight aircraft crashed a few meters before the east bypass (B 4 / B 209) on the airfield.
• May 22, 2011: On the occasion of an airfield festival, a machine overturned on landing, emergency landing of a machine after an engine failure, thereby endangering spectators of the airfield festival.
• July 21, 2019: Collision of two gliders over the Moorfeld district, crash of a glider into the garden of a residential building on Gerhart-Hauptmann-Strasse, pilot seriously injured, second glider made an emergency landing on the airfield.

Web links

Commons : Flugplatz Lüneburg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Further technical data ( Memento from May 27, 2014 in the web archive archive.today )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders). Pp. 412–413, accessed August 29, 2014.
2. ↑ Helmut C. Pless: Lüneburg 45, p. 47. Lüneburg 1982.
3. ↑ Rock Over Germany Lüneburg 1993 Setlists. Retrieved January 2, 2020 . 
4. ↑ jj: the military is shrinking, business is growing. Mayor Mädge speaks about new settlement areas in the barracks, port plans and the image of the city. In: lueneburg-fluglaerm.de. Lüneburger Landeszeitung , January 5, 2012, accessed on February 22, 2012 . 
5. ^ Off for Lüneburg airfield. In: ndr.de. August 30, 2019, accessed August 31, 2019 . 
6. ^ NDR 1 Lower Saxony: Lüneburg: Citizens' petitions approved for the airport. In: ndr.de. March 25, 2020, accessed May 8, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Lüneburgers vote for airfield maintenance. In: ndr.de. June 14, 2020, accessed June 14, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Lüneburg Airport: How much is the new lease? In: ndr.de. June 15, 2020, accessed June 15, 2020 . 
9. ^ Lüneburg airfield. On: niedersachsen.de. Answer of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economics, Labor and Transport to the request of the Member of Parliament Enno Hagenah (GREEN) of September 14, 2009.
10. ^ Carlo Eggeling: The big air number - LZonline. In: landeszeitung.de. June 26, 2018, accessed May 15, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Gerhard Sternitzke: Airmen fight for their airfield. In: az-online.de. July 23, 2018, accessed May 15, 2020 . 
12. ^ Lüneburg airfield: Conservationists for conservation. In: ndr.de. January 3, 2020, accessed May 15, 2020 . 
13. ↑ Crash landing in the paddock - everyone is alive. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. June 28, 2004.
14. ↑ Two injured in crash landing. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. January 17, 2005.
15. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Two injured after crash landing. In: Landeszeitung Lüneburg. January 17, 2005.
16. ↑ Emergency landing. Microlight crashes on a field. ( Memento from July 20, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ). In: Hamburger Abendblatt. July 1, 2008.
17. ↑ Pilot lands next to the east bypass. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. April 1, 2009.
18. ↑ Airfield Festival 2011 Lüneburg. In: Landeszeitung Lüneburg. May 28, 2011.
19. ↑ After the collision: Lord Mayor Mädge calls for a quick ban on Lüneburg flight operations. ( Memento from September 1, 2019 in the Internet Archive ). In: hansestadtlueneburg.de. July 22, 2019.