Châteaudun military airfield
| Elément air rattaché 279 Châteaudun Base aérienne 279 Châteaudun |
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| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | LFOC | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 132 m (433 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 3 km east of Châteaudun | ||
| Street |
D 955 1.5 km to the N 10 |
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| Basic data | |||
| operator | Armée de l'air | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| 10/28 | 2302 m × 45 m asphalt | ||
The Elément air rattaché 279 Châteaudun (EAR 279) is a military airfield of the French Air Force ( Armée de l'air ) . The by 2014 as base aérienne 279 Châteaudun specified device, which was named after "Lieutenant-Beau," is in the Region Center-Val de Loire in the department of Eure-et-Loir in the area of Châteaudun and the neighboring community of Lutz-en-Dunois , about three kilometers east of Châteaudun . The EAR 279 is subject to BA 123 .
history
The Aérodrome was built in 1934 as an aircraft, spare parts and maintenance depot for the French Air Force. There were over 600 aircraft here when the Second World War broke out, which is why the airfield was bombed twice by the Luftwaffe at the beginning of the German Wehrmacht's western campaign .
After the armistice, the base was an air base of the Air Force, he was still in June for a few days of 109E Bf used two hunting groups, the 1I. Group of Jagdgeschwader 21 (I./JG 21) and of staff and I. Group of Jagdgeschwader 54 (S. and I./JG 54).
As a result, Châteaudun became a base for twin-engined bombers, initially between the end of June 1940 and the first half of January 1941 of the Ju 88A of the III. Group of the Lehrgeschwader 1 (III./LG 1 ). In addition, the 3rd squadron of reconnaissance group 121 (3rd (F) / 121) was added until October 1940 . In March / April 1941 another Ju 88A unit was located here, the I. Group of Kampfgeschwader 76 (I./KG 76) . After a long break, the place became one of the few He 177A bases. From August 1942, the IV. Group of Kampfgeschwader 40 was located here , followed around the turn of the year 1943/44 by parts of I. Group of the same Geschwaders 40 (I. / KG 40) and finally, until the beginning of May 1944, I. Group of Kampfgeschwader 100 who took part in the Steinbock company from here . In November 1943, the 2nd and 3rd squadrons of the supplementary destroyer group ( 2nd and 3rd / Erg.Zerst.Gr.) Were temporarily lying next to them.
Immediately after the start of the Allied invasion of Normandy , the Ju 88C / G of Group I of Night Fighter Squadron 2 (I./NJG 2) moved to Châteaudun, which operated for a good two months from here. In addition, the air base became the base of the Me 262A of Kampfgeschwader 51 for a few weeks from mid-July , probably only the 3rd squadron (3rd / KG 51).
Châteaudun was attacked several times in 1943/44 by heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). After the Allies took the base at the end of August, Airfield A.39 , as it was called by the Allies, was used by the Ninth Air Force after just a few . This included the P-61 of the 422d Night Fighter Squadron until mid-September 1944 . It was immediately replaced by the B-26 of the 387th Bombardment Group by the end of October 1944 . The last US task force was the 10th Reconnaissance Group in November 1944 .
As a result, the place became the base of the 439th Troop Carrier Group , which was equipped with C-47s , for ten months .
In September 1945 the base was returned to France, rebuilt by the armed forces from 1946 and used again as a depot. In 1954 the airfield became "Base 279". After the outbreak of the Six Day War in 1967, 50 Mirage 5Js ordered by Israel were brought to Châteaudun due to the arms embargo and were acquired by the Armée de l'Air in 1971 .
Base 279 was used for the storage and recycling of decommissioned military aircraft in the decades before it was closed at the beginning of July 2014. In support of this, the Escadron de Convoyage 0/70 EdC 0/70 stationed here flew the Noratlas and the Nord 262 for years .
Todays use
Even after the reclassification of BA 279 at the beginning of July 2014 to EAR 279, the area is used for the storage and recycling of decommissioned military aircraft, for which the airfield is opened on a daily basis.
