Aachen Merzbrück Airfield

Aachen Merzbrück Airfield (German: Flugplatz Aachen-Merzbrück) (IATA: AAH, ICAO: EDKA) is an airfield located near Aachen, Germany.[1]

Aachen Merzbrück Airfield

Flugplatz Aachen-Merzbrück
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorFlugplatz Aachen-Merzbrück GmbH
ServesAachen, Germany
LocationWürselen
Elevation AMSL623 ft / 190 m
Coordinates50°49′24″N 006°11′11″E
Websiteflugplatz-aachen.de
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
07/25 3,805 1,160 Asphalt

History

The airfield was built about 1914 as a grass airfield, and throughout the 1930s was used by small light aircraft. After the First World War it was taken over by Belgium occupying power in 1919, used as a military field airfield and expanded accordingly. In 1929 the Belgian soldiers withdrew and the airfield became a civilian airfield. In 1930 the airship, Graf Zeppelin landed and took off in Merzbrück as part of a sightseeing flight in the Rhineland. [2] In 1931 a line connection to Cologne Butzweilerhof Airport was set up, which was operated with the Junkers G 24 until 1935 . In 1935 the regular scheduled flight to Cologne was discontinued for economic reasons. In 1932 the world's largest airplane at that time, the Junkers G 38, landed in Merzbrück.

In World War II, Merzbrück was used by the Luftwaffe, with IV.(Stuka)/LG 1 and I./St.G. 77 of Lehrgeschwader 1, equipped with Junkers Ju 87s during the first week of the Battle of Belgium in May 1940. After the Battle of France in June ended, the airfield was little used by the military or general aviation.[3]

In January 1945, as a result of the Western Allied invasion of Germany, United States Army forces moved through the Aachen area and captured Merzbrück Airport about 29 January. In February combat engineers of the 818th Engineering Aviation Battalion arrived and laid down a 5000' Pierced Steel Planking metal runway down on the grass airfield aligned 05/23 for use by combat aircraft, and the airport was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "Y-46 Aachen".[4] The Americans used the airport for P-47 Thunderbolt combat operations until the middle of April 1945, and the airport was closed on 11 May 1945.[5][6]

After the war, the airfield was used by the British Forces in Germany and later by the Belgian Forces in Germany. Years ago the airfield was rebuilt with an all-weather asphalt runway, taxiways, and both concrete and grass aircraft parking areas. A parallel grass runway is also available.

Usage

There is no scheduled traffic at the airfield. It primarily features general aviation, and also has a large sailplane facility. The ADAC air rescue service provides the air rescue helicopter Christoph Europa 1 for urgent medical rescues and air ambulance duties here. A flight school and maintenance facility (Westflug Aachen) is located here since 1967.[7]

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  1. Accident history for AAH / EDKA - Merzbruck Airport at Aviation Safety Network
  2. Error in Webarchive template: Invalid URL.
  3. The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
  4. IX Engineer Command ETO Airfields, Airfield Layout
  5. Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
  6. Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
  7. "Website: History of Westflug". Archived from the original on 2018-03-11. Retrieved 2018-03-11.

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