- Rechlin-Lärz Airfield
Infobox Airport
name = Rechlin-Lärz Airfield
nativename =
nativename-a =
nativename-r =
image-width =
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IATA = REB
ICAO = EDAX
type = Public
owner =
operator = Entwicklungs-und Betriebsgesellschaft Müritzflugplatz Rechlin-Lärz mbH
city-served =
location = Rechlin
elevation-f = 90
elevation-m = 27
coordinates = Coord|53|18|23|N|012|45|11|E|type:airport|display=inline,title
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 08/26
r1-length-f = 7,808
r1-length-m = 2,380
r1-surface =Concrete
r2-number = closed
r2-length-f =
r2-length-m = 2,380
r2-surface =Concrete
stat-year =
stat1-header =
stat1-data =
stat2-header =
stat2-data =
footnotes =Rechlin-Lärz Airfield Airport codes|REB|EDAX is an airfield in the village of
Rechlin ,Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ,Germany , which is certified for aviation equipment up to 14 tons weight. It is a former military airfield with a long history and has a concrete runway 2,080 m long, down from the original two.The airport was the
Luftwaffe 's main testing ground for new aircraft designs during theThird Reich . The "Rechlin data sheets" on Luftwaffe and captured Allied aircraft are considered by many aviation historians to be among the most reliable sources for aircraft performance data from theWorld War II era.The beginnings
Construction of the first airfield at Rechlin started in 1916; the airfield was officially opened on
29 August ,1918 . After the end ofWorld War I , the airfield was closed again and many of its installations dismantled. During the 1920s, the airfield was reopened as a civilian airbase, but it was soon used as a testing ground for the secret German air force experiments under the Treaty of Rapallo. The site was probably chosen for its remote location in an almost uninhabited area.During the Third Reich
In 1935, the Rechlin airfield became the official testing ground of the newly-formed Luftwaffe. The site was designated "Erprobungsstelle (E-Stelle)" and was expanded by constructing two more airfileds in nearby Roggenthin and Lärz. Construction work on the airfields and the accompanying barracks was partly carried out by forced labor from nearby
concentration camp Ravensbrück .Many of the Luftwaffe's new plane models were test flown at the Rechlin facilities;
KG 200 with its array of captured planes was a regular guest at the airfields. After several Allied bombing runs on the Rechlin and Roggenthin airfields in 1944, testing of late-war planes was shifted to Lärz. OnApril 10 ,1945 , a final bomber attack by theUS Air Force almost completely destroyed the airfields; what was left was blown up by the German garrison before Soviet troops arrived at Rechlin onMay 2 .Post-war history
In 1946, the
Soviet Air Force established a permanent presence at the airbase. An attack fighter squadron and later a helicopter squadron were stationed at Lärz; the airfield at Rechlin was used by theNational People's Army (NVA). Military usage of the airfields continued until 1993, when the last Russian air force units were moved home. The Rechlin airfield was reopened for civilian use in 1994.External links
* [http://www.luftfahrttechnisches-museum-rechlin.de/ Aviation museum in Rechlin]
* [http://www.rlm-laerz.claranet.de/ Rechlin-Lärz museum]
*WAD|EDAX
* [http://www.airports.de/airport.php?ICAO=EDAX EDAX at airports.de (German/English)]
* [http://www.kulturkosmos.de/ Cultural organization at Rechlin-Lärz Airfield]
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