Mönchsheide glider airfield
| Mönchsheide glider airfield | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Characteristics | |||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 205 m (673 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Street | A61 motorway | ||
| Basic data | |||
| opening | 1970 (glider airfield) 1937 (military airport) |
||
| operator | Luftsportverein Mönchsheide eV | ||
| Runways | |||
| 10/28 | 700 m of grass | ||
| 17/35 | 375 m of grass | ||
The Mönchsheide glider airfield is a glider airfield west of the city of Bad Breisig and east of the town of Franken in the Ahrweiler district in Rhineland-Palatinate . It was built before the Second World War by the Wehrmacht air force as the Niederbreisig-Mönchsheide field airfield .
history
Until 1945
The plateau near the Rhine Valley between Sinzig and Bad Breisig, which is now used as a glider airfield, was built by the Reich Labor Service as an alternative airport for the Niedermendig air base with the two grass runways that still exist today. The airfield was hardly used by the Luftwaffe , from 1942 to 1944 wooden dummies of aircraft were set up to deceive it. In 1944 the 6th Squadron of Transport Group 10, equipped with Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 , moved to Mönchsheide, but the planes were destroyed by American low-flying aircraft. Between December 1944 and February 1945, individual aircraft from long-range reconnaissance group 123 were still stationed in Niederbreisig.
After the retreat of the German troops, the US Army also relocated 155 mm howitzers to the plateau by March 24, 1945 to support the Allied advance in the Westerwald .
From 1945
After the end of the war, an American radar position was initially moved to Mönchsheide, but was withdrawn again in 1952. During this time a well was drilled, which is in use again today. After that, the open space was mainly used for agriculture. It was not until 1970 that the plateau was used again as an airfield, now as a glider airfield.
Due to the steadily growing military flight operations on the Hummerich and Mendig Air Base , which had been in use since the mid-1950s , the Aero-Club Andernach moved from Niedermendig to Mönchsheide in 1970 and has been called Luftsportverein Mönchsheide Aero-Club Bad Breisig-Andernach e. V.
Today there are also flight operations with ultralight aircraft, as well as an annual glider competition, the BBSW.
Web links
- Website of the air sports club Mönchsheide e. V.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Gückelhorn: The end on the Rhine. End of the war between Remagen and Andernach. Helios, Aachen 2005, pp. 90-98.
- ↑ The History of LVM . Luftsportverein Mönchsheide, accessed on July 7, 2014.