Pontoise - Cormeilles-en-Vexin Airport
Encyclopedia
Pontoise Aerodrome or Pontoise – Cormeilles Aerodrome is an airport
located 7 km (7,000,000,000,000 nm) northwest of Pontoise
in Boissy l'Aillerie near Cormeilles-en-Vexin
, all communes
of the Val-d'Oise
department in the Île-de-France
region
in northern France
. The airport is also located 16 miles (25.7 km) northwest of Paris
.
It supports mostly general aviation
, however scheduled flights by Aigle Azur
(between 1988 and 1995) and Debonair
(between November 1998 and October 1999) have operated from the airport daily to London (Gatwick and Luton), using Embraer
and BAe
146-100 and 200. There were also seasonal daily flights to Brighton (seaside resort south of London) operated by the company Skysouth
, using a Piper Chieftain
.
, Cormeilles-en-Vexin was used as a Luftwaffe
military airfield during the occupation. Known units assigned (all from Luftlotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV):
KG 76 participated in the Battle of Britain
; KG 53 and KG 6 performed night bombing raids over England
; KG 6 was a day interceptor unit against Eighth Air Force bombing raids; KG 66 flew raids over Allied shipping around England. The Luftwaffe also constructed two concrete, all weather runways, both of which are still in use today.
Largely due to its use as a base for Fw-190 interceptors, Cormeilles was attacked by USAAF Ninth Air Force
B-26 Marauder
medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolt
s mostly with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs; unguided rockets and .50 caliber machine gun sweeps when Eighth Air Force
heavy bombers (B-17s, B-24s) were within interception range of the Luftwaffe aircraft assigned to the base. The attacks were timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also the P-51 Mustang
fighter-escort groups of Eighth Air Force
would drop down on their return back to England and attack the base with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield.
combat airfield, designated as "A-59" about a week later, on 15 September. It was also known as "Cormeilles-En-Vexin Advanced Landing Ground
".
Under American control, the Ninth Air Force
assigned the 344th Bombardment Group
, flying B-26 Marauder
medium bombers to the airfield on 30 September 1944, remaining at the base until 9 April 1945. The 410th Bombardment Group replaced the 344th with A-26 Invader
medium bombers in May, remaining until June when they were withdrawn. The Americans returned full control of the airport to French authorities on 17 July 1945.
. What appears to be a government or military aircraft parking ramp on the southeast side of the airfield, along with several new hangars and support infrastructure, are separate from the civil airport.
A memorial to the American use of the airport has been erected near the Control Tower
of 325 feet (99 m) above mean sea level. It has two paved runway
s. The main runway is 05/23 which measures 1689 by 50 m (5,541.3 by 164 ) and is equipped with ILS
. The secondary runway is 12/30 measuring 1650 by 50 m (5,413.4 by 164 ).
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
located 7 km (7,000,000,000,000 nm) northwest of Pontoise
Pontoise
Pontoise is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise.-Administration:...
in Boissy l'Aillerie near Cormeilles-en-Vexin
Cormeilles-en-Vexin
Cormeilles-en-Vexin is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France.-References:** -External links:* *...
, all communes
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of the Val-d'Oise
Val-d'Oise
Val-d'Oise is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt quinze" or "neuf cinq"...
department in the Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The airport is also located 16 miles (25.7 km) northwest of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
It supports mostly general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
, however scheduled flights by Aigle Azur
Aigle Azur
Société Aigle Azur Transports Aériens is an airline based in Tremblay-en-France, France, near Paris. It operates domestic scheduled passenger services and international services to Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia in North Africa as well as Portugal, Italy and Mali. It also operates charter, cargo and wet...
(between 1988 and 1995) and Debonair
Debonair (airline)
Debonair was a British airline operating mainly from London Luton Airport offering flights to and from Spain, France, Germany and Italy. It ceased operations in October 1999.-History:...
(between November 1998 and October 1999) have operated from the airport daily to London (Gatwick and Luton), using Embraer
Embraer
Embraer S.A. is a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate that produces commercial, military, and executive aircraft and provides aeronautical services....
and BAe
Bae
Bae, also often spelled Pae or Pai, is a unique Korean family name. The South Korean census of 2000 found 372,064 people by this surname, or slightly less than 1% of the population....
146-100 and 200. There were also seasonal daily flights to Brighton (seaside resort south of London) operated by the company Skysouth
Skysouth
Skysouth was a passenger airline based in Shoreham-by-Sea, England. Founded in 2006, Skysouth began operations to France in June 2006. They served three destinations in France from their base at Shoreham Airport with at least 22 weekly flights...
, using a Piper Chieftain
Piper PA-31 Navajo
The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also licence-built in a number of Latin American countries. Targeted at small-scale cargo and feeder liner operations and...
.
German use during World War II
Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the Battle of FranceBattle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, Cormeilles-en-Vexin was used as a Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
military airfield during the occupation. Known units assigned (all from Luftlotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV):
- Kampfgeschwader 76 (KG 76) June 1940-7 June 1941 Dornier Do 17Dornier Do 17The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
Z; Junkers Ju 88Junkers Ju 88The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
A - Kampfgeschwader 53 (KG 53) 22 November-30 December 1942 Heinkel He 111Heinkel He 111The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
- Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6) 6 December 1942-September 1943 Junkers Ju 88Junkers Ju 88The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
A - Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) 27 November 1943-7 June 1944 Focke-Wulf Fw 190Focke-Wulf Fw 190The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger was a German Second World War single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s. Powered by a radial engine, the 190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109...
A - Kampfgeschwader 66 (KG 66) February-June 1944 Junkers Ju 188Junkers Ju 188The Junkers Ju 188 was a German Luftwaffe high-performance medium bomber built during World War II, the planned follow-on to the famed Ju 88 with better performance and payload...
KG 76 participated in the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
; KG 53 and KG 6 performed night bombing raids over England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
; KG 6 was a day interceptor unit against Eighth Air Force bombing raids; KG 66 flew raids over Allied shipping around England. The Luftwaffe also constructed two concrete, all weather runways, both of which are still in use today.
Largely due to its use as a base for Fw-190 interceptors, Cormeilles was attacked by USAAF Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
B-26 Marauder
B-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
s mostly with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs; unguided rockets and .50 caliber machine gun sweeps when Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
heavy bombers (B-17s, B-24s) were within interception range of the Luftwaffe aircraft assigned to the base. The attacks were timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also the P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
fighter-escort groups of Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
would drop down on their return back to England and attack the base with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield.
American use
It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 6 September 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the United States Army Air Force IX Engineer Command 818th Engineer Aviation Battalion cleared the airport of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft. Due to the Allied air attacks on the base, a significant amount of battle damage was sustained, which needed to be repaired to put the base back into operational use. The airport became a USAAF Ninth Air ForceNinth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
combat airfield, designated as "A-59" about a week later, on 15 September. It was also known as "Cormeilles-En-Vexin Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...
".
Under American control, the Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
assigned the 344th Bombardment Group
344th Bombardment Group
The 344th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the XII Fighter Command stationed at Schleissheim Palace, Germany. It was inactivated on 15 February 1946....
, flying B-26 Marauder
B-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
medium bombers to the airfield on 30 September 1944, remaining at the base until 9 April 1945. The 410th Bombardment Group replaced the 344th with A-26 Invader
A-26 Invader
The Douglas A-26 Invader was a United States twin-engined light attack bomber built by the Douglas Aircraft Co. during World War II that also saw service during several of the Cold War's major conflicts...
medium bombers in May, remaining until June when they were withdrawn. The Americans returned full control of the airport to French authorities on 17 July 1945.
Modern
After the war, the airport was refurbished and reopened for public use in August 1946. Since April 21, 1949, the airport has been managed by Aéroports de ParisAéroports de Paris
Aéroports de Paris or ADP is the airport authority that owns and manages the fourteen civil airports and airfields in the Île-de-France area. Among its notable airports are Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Orly Airport and Le Bourget Airport...
. What appears to be a government or military aircraft parking ramp on the southeast side of the airfield, along with several new hangars and support infrastructure, are separate from the civil airport.
A memorial to the American use of the airport has been erected near the Control Tower
Facilities
The airport resides at an elevationElevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
of 325 feet (99 m) above mean sea level. It has two paved runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
s. The main runway is 05/23 which measures 1689 by 50 m (5,541.3 by 164 ) and is equipped with ILS
Instrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...
. The secondary runway is 12/30 measuring 1650 by 50 m (5,413.4 by 164 ).
- An area of 235 hectares (580.7 acre)
- 4 Warehouses
- Number of companies based: 5
- A parking area 12,400 square meters and 3 aircraft hangars of 10,000 square meters.
- Airport Assistance for business aviation and airlines
- Ameridair Handling
- Handling Partners
Relics
Many wartime relics can be found at the airport:- Luftwaffe barracks, water tower and what appears to be a parachute training tower: 49°05′15"N 002°02′00"E
- Hardstands and dispersal sites: 49°05′09"N 002°02′58"E
- Luftwaffe aircraft hangar: 49°04′57"N 002°01′54"E
- Ammunition dump with many concrete bunkers (in wooded area): 49°05′08"N 002°01′50"E
See also
- Advanced Landing Ground