Udine-Campoformido airport
| Udine-Campoformido airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | LIPD | ||
| IATA code | UDN | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 93 m (305 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 5 km southwest of Udine | ||
| Street | A23 , SS13 | ||
| train | Udine train station | ||
| Local transport | bus | ||
| Basic data | |||
| opening | July 31, 1913 | ||
| operator | Aeroclub Far East Aeroclub Friulano |
||
| surface | 150 ha | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| 04/22 | 730 m × 40 m grass | ||
The airfield Udine Campoformido is located in the northern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , about five kilometers southwest of Udine and about two kilometers northeast of Campoformido . It is a former military airfield that has only been used for general aviation since 1998 .
Infrastructure and use
The airport is located at Strada Statale 13 Pontebbana . The main entrance is located on SS 13, to the south of it the 740 meter long grass runway (04/22) running parallel to the state road and a 1000 meter long parallel runway (04R / 22L) that has been closed for a long time. Maintenance hangars, aprons and other handling facilities as well as an aviation museum are located in the north and northeast of the airfield. Immediately north of the SS 13 is a former barracks that used to be part of the airfield. The airfield is currently operated by the two air sports clubs Aeroclub Far East and Aeroclub Friulano .
history
The airfield was one of the most important military airfields in Italy from the First to the Second World War . Several squadrons and squadrons were set up here over the years . The airfield is considered the cradle of military aerobatics in Italy.
The first airfield in Friuli was opened in 1910 in La Comina near Aviano , and in the following year a military flight school started operations at what is now Aviano Air Base . The Army Aviation Battalion set up another airfield near Campoformido for training purposes, on which an aircraft landed for the first time on July 31, 1913. Campoformido became a front-line airfield in 1915, where a number of fighter, reconnaissance and bomber squadrons replaced one another. From autumn 1917 until shortly before the end of the war, the airfield was occupied by the Central Powers . In 1927 Campoformido became the location of the 1st Fighter Wing ( 1º Stormo ) of the Italian Air Force . The following year, the future General Rino Corso Fougier became the commanding officer of this squadron. He formed the first aerobatic team within his association , which is considered the forerunner of today's Frecce Tricolori . For reasons of aviation history, the location of today's aerobatic team is on the neighboring military airfield Rivolto .
In 1929 the Aeroclub Friulano , still located here, was founded at the Campoformido airfield , then in 1931 the traditional 4th Fighter Squadron ( 4º Stormo ), and in 1936 the 6th Fighter Squadron ( 6º Stormo ). These and other associations and units returned to Campoformido time and again during the Second World War for refreshments, conversions and retraining. From 1943 to 1945 the airfield was used by the German Air Force and the Italian ANR , including their 1st fighter group. After the war, the airfield remained under the control of the British Royal Air Force for several years .
At the end of the 1940s, the government in Rome decided to build a new commercial airport for north-east Italy . The choice fell on Ronchi dei Legionari , which is about halfway between Udine and Trieste . The Trieste airport there still serves the entire region as an international airport. In addition, only the military airfields in Rivolto and Aviano were rebuilt and expanded, which is why Campoformido was left behind in this area as well. Campoformido became an army airfield together with the nearby military airfield Casarsa della Delizia in the 1950s, with an army aviation regiment stationed in Casarsa, but only smaller flying units in Campoformido. In 1998 the last army pilots left Campoformido.
After the turn of the millennium, an aviation museum with five exhibition halls was built in Campoformido, which particularly presents the history of aviation in Campoformido and Friuli. In recent years there have been bitter disputes over the planned extension and asphalting of the runway.
literature
- Roberto Bassi: Il Cielo di Campoformido . Campanotto, Udine 2008. (Volume 1)
- Roberto Bassi: Il Cielo di Campoformido . Aviani & Aviani, Udine 2011. (Volume 2)
Web links
- Aviation Museum Parco del Volo
- Presentation on aerohabitat.org (PDF; 8.7 MB)
- aerohabitat.org to extend the runway (PDF; 2.9 MB)