Quakenbrück glider airfield
| Quakenbrück glider airfield | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 25 m (82 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 2 km southwest of Quakenbrück | ||
| Street | Danzigerstrasse 21, 49610 Quakenbrück | ||
| Basic data | |||
| opening | 1937 | ||
| operator | Luftsportverein Quakenbrück eV | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| 10/28 | 600 m × 30 m grass | ||
The Quakenbrück glider airfield is an airfield near Quakenbrück that was used as a military airfield during the Third Reich and in the first post-war years . Today air sports are practiced here. The glider airfield is located on the southwestern edge of Quakenbrück. The large factory halls of the former Kynast works in Quakenbrücker Neustadt, directly north of the square, are striking. There are two lakes east of the runway and a television tower to the northeast.
history
When the air base opened in 1937, Quakenbrück became a garrison town . The following table shows a list of selected active flying units (excluding school and supplementary units) of the Wehrmacht Air Force that were stationed here between 1939 and 1945.
| From | To | unit | equipment |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 1939 | February 1940 | Staff, I./KG 4 (Staff and I. Group of Kampfgeschwaders 4) | Heinkel He 111P |
| February 1940 | July 1940 | Staff, I./KG 54 | Heinkel He 111P |
| May 1940 | June 1940 | III./KG 27 | Heinkel He 111P |
| September 1944 | September 1944 | I./KG 6 | Junkers Ju 188A-2 |
| December 1944 | January 1945 | II./JG 6 (II. Group of Jagdgeschwader 6) | Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8 |
Until 1945
As early as the 1920s, an emergency landing site was set up for civil air traffic southwest of the Quakenbrück train station . The first flight day took place in 1926. Finally, in 1928, the "Artländer Verein für Luftfahrt" expanded the site into a regular airfield with an aircraft hangar. The area called Merschland comprised around 250 hectares of moist pastureland .
After the National Socialists came to power in 1933 , the government promoted the expansion of aviation as part of the general rearmament. After the Luftwaffe was announced on March 8, 1935, construction work on the construction of the air base began. Great progress was made with the construction within a very short time. Some of the work was done at night and on Sundays.
The first phase of construction ran until mid-1936. In this short time, the command, flight control, hangars, shipyard, technical area, supply systems and the first accommodation buildings could be built. The actual airfield has also been expanded. In the immediately following second construction phase, various other accommodations followed until 1937, the main guard, telex, as well as the infirmary and officers' mess. The elongated accommodation complex H 23 - H 25 was also built in this construction phase, in the middle of which an open hall of honor was created. The Wehrmacht used the hall and the square in front of it for defenses and appeals in the pompous style customary at the time.
The third and final construction phase lasted until 1938. Remaining work on the existing buildings was now carried out. In addition, two more hangars, the last four accommodation buildings and ammunition bunkers have been built.
As the first flying association, the A / B 82 pilot school moved into the new air base in 1937. The eastern accommodation area was used by the training association, while flying units were housed in the western area. During the war, the airfield was given the code name "Square". At the beginning of 1940 the flight school was relocated to Cottbus . After that, various combat squadrons were stationed in Quakenbrück, equipped with bombers of the Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 88 types. As the war progressed, more and more fighter and night fighter units followed to repel the Allied bomber fleets.
Quakenbrück was particularly important because of the large aircraft yard, which had extensive capacities for repairing damaged operational aircraft. Aircraft from Achmer , Hesepe , Vörden , Plantlünne and Varrelbusch came here to the shipyard. However, at the beginning of 1943, most of the shipyard operations were relocated to the south of France . The air base and its importance were of course known to the Allies. They carried out various air strikes on the facility. During the heaviest attack on Holy Saturday 1944, numerous buildings were damaged or completely destroyed.
Shortly before the end of the war, the Air Force cleared the air base. On April 11, 1945, troops of the British Army occupied the airfield and ended the Second World War for Quakenbrück.
From 1945
The British left the air base to the Polish armed forces , which remained stationed here until 1947. On October 1 of that year, the military government released the building again. In 1948 the demilitarization of the facility began. The accommodations could still be used as living space. Companies settled in various functional buildings, including the Kynast bicycle factory and the Schlaraffia mattress manufacturer. The former infirmary became a civilian hospital and expanded to include other buildings. Additional modern buildings were built later. For a time, a Bundespost school was housed in former barracks blocks .
At the end of the 1950s, the newly established Bundeswehr carried out investigations into taking over the former air base as an airfield again, this time for an association of army aviators . However, it did not come to that. Only a partial area in the east of the site was converted into a depot . The main medical depot Quakenbrück of the Territorial Command North is located here to this day.
Over the years, numerous new residential buildings have been built on the site of the former flight operations area and parts of the airfield, and the Neustadt district emerged. Part of the former airfield is now used again for aviation. The air sports club Quakenbrück has its domicile here.
Current condition
Many buildings of the former air base are still there today. However, most of the structures in the flight operations area have been demolished.
Accessibility
Most of the former Quakenbrück Air Base is freely accessible, with the exception of the private property, of course.
Flight operations
Approvals
The airfield is approved for gliders , powered gliders, ultralights and powered aircraft up to max. 2000 kg (only for the purpose of aircraft towing)
Traffic patterns
The north circuit is for gliders, the south circuit is for powered aircraft.
Start types
At the Quakenbrück airfield there is the possibility of winch towing and aircraft towing.
Planes
- Alexander Schleicher Ka 8 D-6861
- Alexander Schleicher ASW 15 D-8655
- Alexander Schleicher ASK 21 D-8910
- FK-Lightplanes FK 9 ELA D-MESN
- Grob Flugzeugbau Astir CS D-7291
Incidents
- On July 5, 2009, an Alexander Schleicher ASW19 was upgraded for flight operations by several people at Quakenbrück airfield. According to the pilot, a rudder check was then carried out. At about 12:20 p.m. the glider took off with a winch. During taxiing, the pilot heard a clattering noise from the rear of the fuselage . A short time later he noticed that there was no elevator function and communicated this to the launch site via radio. After reaching a height of approx. 300 m, the tow rope fell out of the tow coupling and the glider went into level flight. The pilot threw off the canopy and left the aircraft in an emergency jump. Unharmed, he made it to the ground on the emergency parachute . After the pilot left the glider, it went into a spin , then fell into a cornfield and was destroyed in the process.
- On August 4, 2012 at 7:13 p.m., a student pilot took off in a Schleicher ASK 13 for her first solo flight on the winch . According to witnesses, the winch start went smoothly . The tow rope was released in approx. 300 m. The transverse take-off was also inconspicuous. On the counter approach , it was observed how the glider took an oscillating flight path. The flight instructor stated that he addressed the trainee pilot over the radio and made corrections to the controls. The flight path was described as a pumping movement around the transverse axis, from which the glider finally rose almost vertically and then tipped over the wing. Witnesses saw the glider disappear between the houses of a housing estate. They then heard an impact noise. The trainee pilot was fatally injured and the glider destroyed.
Web links
- Information on Relict.com
- Homepage of the LSV Quakenbrück
- Bomb damage at Quakenbrück Air Base after the air raid on April 8, 1944
Individual evidence
- ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders) , accessed on August 29, 2014
- ↑ Federal Office for Aircraft Accident Investigation - investigation reports. In: www.bfu-web.de. Retrieved July 5, 2016 .