Cognac-Châteaubernard military airfield
| Base aérienne 709 Cognac-Châteaubernard Aéroport de Cognac |
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| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | LFBG | ||
| IATA code | CNG | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 31 m (102 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 5 km south of Cognac | ||
| Street |
D 731 29 km to 
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| Basic data | |||
| operator |
Armée de l'air IHK Cognac |
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| Runways | |||
| 05/23 | 2423 m × 45 m mixed fastened | ||
| 09/27 | 1875 m × 60 m mixed paved | ||
The Base aérienne 709 Cognac Châteaubernard (BA 709) is a military airport of the French Air Force ( Armée de l'air ). The base, which is named after "Commandant Ménard" since 1992, is located in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the department of Charente on the municipalities of Château Bernard and Genté , about five kilometers south of the center of Cognac . In particular, it is the home base of various training institutions as well as the drones .
It is used for civil purposes to a limited extent as the Aéroport de Cognac .
history
The Cognac airfield was built in 1938 at the request of the city on the territory of the neighboring municipality of Châteaubernard. The base was still unfinished at the time of the armistice in June 1940 during World War II .
It was only completed for the German Air Force . The first user between July and September 1941 was the II. Group of Kampfgeschwader 40 (II./KG 40) equipped with He 111 and Do 217 , the main task being sea warfare over the Atlantic .
The airfield was stationed in November 1943 for part of the III. Group of Kampfgeschwaders 40 (III./KG 40), which stayed here with their Fw 200C until July 1944, and at the end of 1943 the target of Allied air raids for the first time. The last Luftwaffe formation was the 3rd squadron of the long-distance reconnaissance group (F) 123 (3rd (F) / 123) whose Ju 88 flew their missions between the end of July and August 1944 from Cognac.
After the end of the war, the base was repaired by the French air forces and in July 1945 it was home to the 705 school base, which remained here until the end of 1949. At the beginning of 1950 it was replaced by operational base 135 as the stationing location of a reconnaissance squadron, the 33ème escadre de reconnaissance . The runway was extended to 2400 m for this purpose. In addition, from 1958, the 92ème brigade de bombardement , a squadron consisting of two Vautour bomber groups ( Escadron de Bombardement ), the EB 1/92 "Bourgogne" and EB 2/92 "Aquitaine".
Cognac became a flight training center again from 1961, this time called School Base 709. The training for the Armée de l'Air and also the Aéronavale initially began on the T-6 , which, however, was replaced by the Magister as early as 1965 , which in turn was replaced in June 1984 by the TB-30, which is still flown today. In 1989 there was a small aerobatic team, the Patrouille Cartouche Doré , which is equipped with a TB-30.
Between July 2009 and 2014, the base was 709 in addition to the home base with Harfang - drones equipped squadron Drones 1/33 (ED 1/33) "Belfort". This received its first MQ-9 in Cognac in December 2016 . In the course of a reorganization, the 33rd Reconnaissance Squadron, which was deactivated in 1993, was reorganized as 33ème Escadre de surveillance, de reconnaissance et d'attaque (33e ESRA) in 2019 . In this context, the retraining unit Escadron de transformation opérationnelle drones (ETOD) was renamed ETOD 3/33 "Moselle" and placed under the squadron.
In 2018/2019, the PC-21 trainers newly ordered by France were transferred to Cognac, and a simulator training center was built in parallel. Advanced training is the responsibility of the École de l'Aviation de Chasse fighter pilot school , which was previously based in Tours, equipped with Alpha Jets .
Military use
The base Cognac-Châteaubernard is currently (2020) used as follows:
- École de Pilotage de l'Armée de l'Air (EPAA), flight school with four flying squadrons - two training squadrons, the Escadron d'Instruction en Vol (EIV), a Center de formation des instructeurs pilotes for flight instructor training and the Naval Aviation School École de l'aéronautique navale , equipped with Socata TB 30 since 1984 .
- Patrouille Cartouche Doré , aerobatic team, also equipped with TB-30, since 1989
- École de l'Aviation de Chasse (EAC), equipped with PC-21, since 2018
- 33ème Escadre de surveillance, de reconnaissance et d'attaque with the Escadron Drones 1/33 ED 1/33 "Belfort" squadron (planned from 2020 also the ED 2/33), the ETOD 3/33 "Moselle" retraining squadron, all equipped with the MQ-9 (flight operations in Cognac since 2016). There is also the Escadron des soutiens techniques aéronautiques 15/33 (ESTA 15/33) maintenance relay .
- Cassidian Aviation Training Service (CATS), a flight school in PPP for basic training, equipped with Grob G 120A-F .
In the coming years, further training units are to be relocated from bases planned for closure to Cognac, in particular the École d'Aviation de Chasse fighter school at base 705 in Tours in 2020 .
There are also some non-flying associations and smaller bases in the vicinity of Cognac.
Civil use
In the southeast of the site there is the small civil part of the base. It is mainly used for general aviation ; the airport is not served in regular scheduled services.
Web links
- Homepage of the base (Facebook)
- Homepage of the aerobatic team Cartouche Doré
- Homepage of the local air sports club