Zwickau airfield

Zwickau airfield
Characteristics
ICAO code	EDBI
Coordinates	50 ° 42 '5 "  N , 12 ° 27' 11"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 42 '5 "  N , 12 ° 27' 11"  E
Height above MSL	320 m (1050  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	2 km south-west of Zwickau, 7.5 km south-east of Werdau
Street	B 173
Local transport	Bus line 29
Basic data
opening	1926
operator	Aeroclub Zwickau eV
Start-and runway
06/24	800 m × 40 m grass

Zwickau airfield, aerial photo (2018)

Map of the airports and landing fields in Saxony

The Zwickau airfield is located in the southwest of the city on Reichenbacher Strasse on Marienthaler Flur. It is frequented by amateur pilots and business people. This airfield has been used by the Aero Club Zwickau since 1990 , which also organizes sightseeing flights with powered aircraft from here.

history

1909-1930

The first Zwickau airfield was on the parade ground of a Helmsdorf garrison north of Zwickau. This suburban community was between Dänkritz , Oberrothenbach and Niederhohndorf .

The Aviation and Aviation Association was founded here on April 26, 1909 . Until 1914, trips with the club's own Zwickau hot air balloon were made from this airfield .

On May 30, 1911, planes from the Sachsenrundflug landed here. In the morning, around 4.30 a.m., the three pilots Laitsch (who later won), Büchner and Otto Lindpaintner , who were on the flight from Plauen to Chemnitz, took a half-hour break.

The Zeppelin LZ 17 “Saxony” started from here on July 6, 1913 . Hugo Eckener steered the airship via Werdau - Zwickau - Bockwa - Wilkau - Kirchberg - Schneeberg - Aue - Oelsnitz - Lugau - Lichtenstein - Glauchau back to Helmsdorf.

The Aviation and Aviation Association , which was newly founded after the First World War , tried to build a new airfield in Zwickau, because after the Versailles Treaty in 1920 the Helmsdorf hangar was demolished and air traffic ceased.

On April 1, 1926, aviation enthusiasts leased the land at Reichenbacher Straße 129, also known as the Schmelzer-Wiesen, for twelve years from Kommerzienrat Otto Schmelzer from Lichtentanne .

On May 2, 1927, with the landing of the first scheduled airliner ( Junkers F 13 ) in Zwickau, scheduled services between Nuremberg / Fürth - Bayreuth - Hof - Plauen - Zwickau - Leipzig began. As a result, Zwickauer Flugplatz GmbH was founded on June 27, 1928 . The city gave a grant of 20,000 Reichsmarks to expand the airfield and hangar.

1930-1947

Since 1930 the Nordbayerische Verkehrsflug GmbH served the line Nuremberg - Zwickau - Chemnitz - Dresden - Stettin. The first private aircraft to land on the new airfield was the aircraft belonging to World War II pilot Alfred Thomä, who from 1930 also ran the Zwickau airport restaurant. Every year from May to November, aircraft from Bavaria landed here at around 10:30 a.m. the one from Leipzig around 4:30 p.m. With 285 arriving and 455 departing passengers per year, Zwickau was thirtieth among the seventy-nine German airports.

The annual Zwickau flight days were well known and attracted guests from near and far. On October 16, 1932, a four-engine Junkers G 38 made an overflight. At the end of October 1934, Deutsche Verkehrsflug AG , which had operated the airfield since January 1, 1931, ceased scheduled service, although the city had contributed a total of RM 122,000 to the maintenance of the airline and to the construction of the workshop and restaurant since 1927.

On May 12, 1944, the airfield on which the Gustav Basser aircraft repair plant had been located since 1938 was the target of American bombers. The factory was badly damaged. The underground repair shops were finally blown up in 1947 by the Soviet occupying forces.

GDR time

In the spring of 1953, rubble and bomb craters were removed and the airfield restored. Some Zwickau enthusiasts resumed operations with an old SG 38 school glider .

Since March 1, 1957, GST carried out engine flight operations again at the airfield . A successful aerobatic team was based here until 1973, and was relocated from Zwickau to the neighboring Neuplanitz residential area due to the aircraft noise . Until the political change , only gliders were used, mostly in motor tow with Wilga .

After 1990

and display information about the image

Zwickau airfield, view from the southwest.

In 1996, 1997 and 1998 the heavy metal open air festival With Full Force took place at Zwickau airfield . Because of local residents' protests, the playing time of the bands was initially limited in 1998 and in 1999 the organizer moved the festival to the Roitzschjora glider airfield .

Web links

Commons : Flugplatz Zwickau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Homepage of the Aero Club Zwickau eV

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Norbert Peschke : Our story. In: ACZ.de. Aero-Club Zwickau, accessed on December 25, 2012 .