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Elsenborn

50°28'54"N6°10'55"E

Runway: 04/22 - 603x15meters/1978x49feet - asphalt

Elsenborn airfield (German: Flugplatz Elsenborn, ICAO EBLB) is a small army airfield operated by the Elsenborn Barracks in the eastern German speaking region of Belgium.

Information about this airfield is very scarce.

It was already open in the 1920s, but so far I have been unable to pinpoint an exact date.

During the Battle of the Bulge in World War II it was the scene of fierce fighting.

The Elsenborn Ridge was the only sector of the American front line during the Battle of the Bulge where the Germans failed to advance.

Elsenborn Air Field, photographed in the early 1930s (PPRUNE.org).

The airfield had a shared military/civilian use from 1992 until 2002.

Still, even from this period there is little to be found on line.

Even the landing directions and dimensions of the single runway are very hard to find on line.

The airfield can be clearly seen with Google Earth, however.

Elsenborn used to be the home base of the Belgian Army RPV-unit 80 Squadron (Hunter-B), but they left the airbase for Florennes Air Base in 2007

Elsenborn Air Field, 2010

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Büllingen Airfield

50°24'51"N006°16'37" E

Bülllingen Airfield (source)

Runway 12/30 - 300meters - Grass

Büllingen Airfield (German: Flugplatz Büllingen, ICAO EBBN) is a small airfield near Elsenborn Air Base in the German speaking region of Belgium.

In 1979 the airfield began as the location where the local model flying club "Feuervogel" (Firebird) flew it's model aircraft.

In the 1990s the club was allowed to expand the field into a joint RC-model flying and Ultralight airfield.

Today the airfield has two hangars -housing some 20 ultralight aircraft- and a clubhouse/bar.

Büllingen Airfield (source), the red lines show the no-fly areas

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Verviers/Theux

50°33'09"N005°51'18"E

Verviers-Theux Airfield

Runway: 06/24 - 700x18m - grass

Verviers-Theux Airport (French: Aérodrome de Verveiers-Theux, ICAO EBTX) is a general aviation airfield east of Liège in the province of Liège in Belgium.

The airport was started in 1931 by a group of aviation enthousiasts who wanted to fly gliders.

Or rather, as the local Royal Verviers Aviation club puts it: "Or rather 'glider': it was more of a chair equipped with wings, these reckless sent into the air by a winch, like a kite ... and they were sitting on it.".

The original location was soon outgrown, so the aviation club moved to Spa around 1932.

Many of the gliders at the time really were 'gliders': they did not soar to the sky, but instead they 'flew' down a local hill, and had to be pulled back up after the 'flight', either by hand, or by the horse of a local farmer.

After the war the flying club moved aroudn the area fo a few years, mainly at Spa, but also at a former American ALG owned by Charles de Kerchove.

After their hangar collapsed due to heavy snow in 1948, the club began building a hangar that was so large it could house two DC-3s.

Unfortunately the owner of the property asked for a monthly rent that was too high, so the club began considering moving to another location.

Club member Charles de Kerchove (club record holder with a flight that lasted 8 hours) provided a solution: he offered a field next to his property to the club.

This allowed the club to return to its roots and to own its own airfield.

The airfield was a lot smaller back then: the operating permit dated 3 July 1953 speaks of a runway of 575 meters.

By that time the club owned 7 gliders, 2-Piper Cubs, a Luscombe and an Auster (the tow plane).

The airfield had a (mandatory) telephone, but not electricity, lighting was by oil lamps.

By 1959 the pilots of Verviers had earned themselves a reputation of being able to land anywhere, as they trained on a track whose 'length' scared drivers from other airfields.

When in 1976 the motorway between Verviers and Prüm was built large quantities of rock and dirt were excavated.

Quick to seize an opportunity, the club realised a disadvantage (not being able to expand in the direction of the motorway) could be turned into an advantage if they could convince the constructors to dump their debris at the other end of the field.

This would level the field at this end, which would allow them to still expand the runway, and at the same time leave sufficient room for a safety zone of several hundred meters.

The proposal worked and the field was lengthened to 735meters plus the safety zone.

The clubs buildings were constructed in a similar fashion, the clubhouse for example was paid for by a movie maker who used the old clubhouse as scenery in exchange for cash.

Rumour has it the club became so efficient at organising the build of their hangars at least two contractors went bankrupt because of the low price they had negotiated.

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Spa-La Sauvenière Airport

50°29'0"N005°54'41"E

No image available

Runway: 05/23 - 792meters/2,600feet - Asphalt

Spa-La Sauvenière Airport (French: Aérodrome de Spa-La Sauvenière, ICAO EBSP) is a small privately operated airport near the city of Spa in the the province of Luxemburg in Belgium.

The airport is privately managed and home to the Royal Aéro Para Club de Spa (RAPCS).

The airport is located only 6KM (4miles) from the Formula One circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, and thus used frequently by Formula One drivers

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Bassenge-Wonck (Closed)

50°46'42"N005°37'00"E

Bassenge-Wonck airport in 1994

Runway: 05/23 - 250x55meters - Grass (Closed)

Bassenge-Wonck Airport (French: Aérodrome de Bassenge-Wonck, ICAO: ex-EBBA, changed to EBBW in 2005) was a small ultralight airport north of Liège close to the border with the Netherlands in the province of Liège in Belgium.

It was home to aeroclub Bassenge, but the airport was temporary closed somewhere between 2005 and 2006.

It closed because the aeroclub did not have enough members (it dropped to just one in 2006).

The airfield remained on the ICAO list as EBBW until 2008 with "Closed" in the remarks.

Nothing reminds of the former airfield, the area has become agricultural land.

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If you have any information about airfields (listed and unlisted) in the province of Liège, email RonaldV.

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