History Hønefoss Airport, Eggemoen

1 history

1.1 second world war
1.2 norwegian armed forces operations
1.3 civilian revival

history
second world war

the norwegian army air service started in 1938 suitable sites second airport in eastern norway, supplement kjeller airport. in addition become haslemoen airport, considered 3 sites in ringerike: hensmoen, marigårdsmoen , veme. despite lack of airport, there aviation club, ringerike flyklubb, based @ hvalsmoen. encouraged military consider building airport @ eggemoen. however, plans did not come further before german invasion of norway set in on 9 april 1940.

luftwaffe took interest in airport plans , planning started in 1941. however, construction did not commence before 1943. forest area 200 hectares (490 acres) expropriated egge farm , 200 norwegians hired cut down forest. under command of erwin keller, further construction carried out combination of organisation todt, prisoners of war , norwegian contractors. plan construction extensive , planned 1 of largest airports in norway. included runway, dummy runway on other side of randsfjorden line, taxiway , hardened aircraft shelters, among others. airport completed in september 1944, time had received 1,800-by-60-meter (5,910 200 ft) runway. had landing lights , instrument landing system, lorenz radar.

the air base activated on 29 september 1944 arrival of first aircraft stationed there. 1. staffel of fernaufklarungsgeschwader 120 had been @ værnes air station. there 4 junkers ju 88s, later increasing six. squadron carried out reconnaissance. relocated lista air station on 25 december, same day 20. staffel of transportgrupfe 20 allocated eggemoen. operated twelve junkers ju 52 transporters , remained @ eggemoen until end of war on 8 may 1945. short period in 1945 there squadron of messerschmitt bf 109s stationed @ eggemoen. airport used stop-overs wide variety of german aircraft, typically refueling.

the airport s intended use stop-over large numbers of aircraft in transit. happened once, in late 1944, when ninety junkers ju 87 stukas refuled @ eggemoen. during 1945 wehrmacht designated eggemoen site fly out senior officials should germany surrender. air defenses installed, 88 mm guns installed @ vågård , gundersby, smaller guns @ airfield itself. gundersby gun dismounted , sent elsewhere. wooden dummy placed in place, , allied intelligence never discovered this.

following surrender on 8 may 1945, eggemoen became major transit station luftwaffe aircraft. in airport s busiest period ever, site reallocation of aircraft. retained in norway , used royal norwegian air force, others sent germany destruction , allocated royal air force.

norwegian armed forces operations

after aftermath died out, there little military activity @ eggemoen. airfield kept in use, Østlandske flyselskap establishing base there in 1946. remained there until moving fornebu in 1952. activities centered on air taxi , pilot school.

the royal norwegian air force moved pilot school eggemoen in 1951. training contracted widerøe, operated air force s aircraft. short-term role airport, school moved værnes on 3 june 1952. eggemoen base expanded 1952 1954, , became home engineering company. role kept until 1963, after became used engineering training. airfield little used, , surrounding built series of training fields.

a 1988 commission considered eggemoen potential site new main air station fighter aircraft in eastern norway. although had sufficient area construction, air station have built on both sides of randsfjorden line. proximity hønefoss , jevnaker incur high noise pollution. investments high entire runway have rotated ten degrees.

civilian revival

due proximity oslo, 44 kilometers (27 mi) north-northeast of capital, eggemoen considered possible location of new airport. 1970 commission evaluated eggemoen , found had insufficient area norway s main airport , had many hills around meet runway safety standards. eggemoen expensive of 7 alternatives, in part caused high investments needed ground transport. , had smallest surrounding communities around it, complicating settlement of airport workers. reflected in general isolation population centers in eastern norway. airport found advantageous in terms of air corridors, , low impact of noise pollution.

the municipality bought part of runway in 1986 , established civilian operation of airport. airport shrunk placing asphalt airfield measuring 800 20 meters (2,625 66 ft) on northern part of concrete runway. 1990s operators left @ airfield aviation clubs.

with gardermoen having been selected new main airport , decision being made close down fornebu, political debate arose in 1990s of general aviation airport eastern norway should located. government proposed in 1994 3 airports share role, kjeller, eggemoen , rygge. within 2 years eggemoen proposed main general aviation airport eastern norway. state funding of nok 50 million offered. traffic estimated increase 6,000 aircraft movements per year 40,000 in 1999 , 51,000 in 2010. unanimous jevnaker municipal council opposed plans, receive of noise pollution. vote 22 against 21, ringerike municipal council voted in favor of referendum concerning airport. held on 6 march 1996, tt had turnout of 36 percent, of 66.2 percent voted against proposal eggemoen. confirmed in ringerike municipal council, 1 decisive vote approval discarded.

tronrud engineering bought airfield in 2 transaction, in 2000 , 2005, along rest of eggemoen base. work started on converting facility industrial park centered on airfield. although civilian aviation authorities proposed 800-meter (2,600 ft) runway, instead full length of 2,100 meters (6,900 ft). aerodrome closed in 2009 complete renovation. tronrud engineering hoped investments allow aerospace industries relocate eggemoen. air service vamdrup, provider of air maintenance, established norwegian division @ eggemoen in may 2014.