Pontedera airfield
| Pontedera Aeroporto di Pontedera Aeroscalo di Pontedera airport |
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| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | LIAT | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 12 m (39 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 1 km southwest of Pontedera | ||
| Street | Via dell'Aeroporto (Zona Industriale PIP III) |
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| Basic data | |||
| opening | 1913 | ||
| operator | Aeronautica Militare , Piaggio | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| 07/25 | 1253 m × 37 m asphalt closed / removed |
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The airfield Pontedera ( it .: Aeroscalo / Aeroporto di Pontedera ) was an Italian military airfield and company airfield of the company Piaggio near Pontedera in Tuscany . There is now an industrial park on the former airfield site.
history
The airfield, located about 25 kilometers east of Pisa and Livorno , was laid out in 1913 by the Italian Navy for the operation of airships . A first large hangar was supplemented by a second, somewhat smaller hall during the First World War . During the war, the airships stationed in Pontedera patrolled mainly over the Ligurian Sea to protect merchant shipping and supply convoys from submarines .
After the war, the Navy offered sightseeing flights for civilians with the airships from Pontedera. The proceeds went to families who had lost relatives in the war. On December 20, 1923, the airfield was taken over by the newly established Regia Aeronautica . Umberto Nobile's airship Norge , which reached the North Pole in 1926 , was also stationed here . The airship era in Pontedera ended in 1928, and from then on the airfield was only used by fixed-wing aircraft.
In the following years, the Piaggio company settled in Pontedera and built military aircraft, mainly bombers, including the four-engine Piaggio P.108 . During the Second World War , the role as a works airfield was initially still in the foreground, but various fighter and bomber squadrons were also stationed here. The airfield was finally destroyed by Allied air raids and then occupied by the Americans, who first repaired it and then paved the runway.
In the post-war period, the airfield, which remained under the control of the Italian Air Force, lost much of its importance to Pisa Airport . Piaggio continued to build components for aircraft in Pontedera, including the Aeritalia G.222 and the Aermacchi MB-326 . The facilities in Pontedera were best known for the local production of Vespa scooters, which were tested for many years on the runway at the airport. After the flight operations had been completely stopped, the area was gradually built over with factory buildings. The remains of the runway, which existed until 2010, were completely removed by 2013. The streets Via dell'Aeroporto and Via Hangar are still reminiscent of the airfield, and an administration building and a restaurant called Aeroscalo are reminiscent of the former airship port .
Web links
literature
- Michele Quirici, Paolo Gori: L'aeroscalo di Pontedera. I dirigibili italiani. CLD Libri - L'Ancora, Pontedera 2000.