Le Luc-Le Cannet airfield
Aérodrome du Luc-Le Cannet | ||
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Characteristics | ||
ICAO code | LFMC | |
Coordinates | ||
Height above MSL | 81 m (266 ft ) | |
Transport links | ||
Distance from the city center | 30 km west of Frejus | |
Street | 5 km to the ![]() |
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Basic data | ||
operator | ALAT | |
Runways | ||
13/31 | 1399 m × 30 m asphalt | |
09/27 | 800 m × 30 m asphalt |
The airfield Le Luc-Le Cannet , French Aérodrome du Luc-Le Cannet is a military airfield in France . The airfield is a civil airfield used by the French Army Aviation ( Aviation légère de l'armée de terre ), the base of which has been called "Général Lejay" since 1990. It is located in the French department of Var (serial number 83) in the area of Le Cannet-des-Maures , about 30 km west of Frejus and 115 kilometers east of Marseille .
history
The airfield was built before the Second World War .
After the occupation of Vichy France by the German Wehrmacht at the end of 1942 , Le Luc became an airfield for the German Air Force . Between mid-May and mid-June 1944, for example, the 7th Squadron of Battle Squadron 4 (7./SG4) equipped with Fw 190F / G lay here for a few weeks .
After being captured by the landed Allies in August 1944 , it was briefly used by the 27th and 324th Fighter Group of the Twelfth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces , which flew the P-47 and A-36 , respectively . In addition, a detachment from the 23rd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron came into the first half of September . On September 13, 1944, it was returned to the French authorities.
In 1963 the airfield became home to the école d'application de l'ALAT (EA ALAT), a flight school run by French army aviators , and training for pilots of the SA318 Alouette II and SA319 Alouette III began a year later . Training for the SA330 Puma began in 1970 and the first night flight tests were carried out from 1975. Further courses were added subsequently.
The "Franco-German Army Aviation Training Center Tiger" for training flight personnel was set up in Le Luc in 2003 (the equivalent for training aircraft technicians is in Faßberg ), and in 2010 the NH90 Caïman training center, Center de formation interarmées ( CFIA).
Todays use
The airfield is currently (2013) still mainly used for military purposes by part of the flight school of the French army aviators and the training facilities attached to them; other parts of the school exist in Dax and Sainte-Léocadie ( Cerdanya ). For details, see the "History" section.