Mainz Finthen Airport
Encyclopedia
Mainz Finthen Airport . is an airport in Germany
, located about 3 miles southwest of Mainz
(Rheinland-Pfalz); approximately 280 miles southwest of Berlin
.
The airport serves the general aviation
community, with no commercial airline service available. There are also a large number of sailplanes at the airfield. The airport operator is holding Flugplatz Mainz Betriebsgesellschaft mbH on behalf of the former operator of the Mainz Aviation Club.
The airport was first opened in 1939 as a Luftwaffe
military airfield (Fliegerhorst Ober-Olm). It was seized by the United States Army
in 1945, and used by the United States as a NATO facility (Finthen Army Airfield) until the end of the Cold War
. In 1992, the military airfield was returned to the Federal German government, which made it available to private operators as a civil airport.
There is a café and snack bar (opening times are not known). The viewing platform offers a view over the airport operations.
military airfield, which opened in 1939. It was constructed by the Reich Labor Service from 1939 to 1942 as maintained by conscript laborers of the SS special camp Hinzert from 1942 until its capture by the United States Army in 1945.
During the early part of World War II
, the Luftwaffe stationed several combat units at Ober-Olm during April and May 1940 in preparation for the attack in the West
, those being:
From Ober-Olm JG 52 and 76 were involved in the air fighting during the Battle of France
, both units moving west along with the advancing German forces. (KG 2) (Battle Wing 2) fielded 36 Dornier Do 17s, with 22 aircraft serviceable. KG2 supported German Army Group A’s crossing of the Meuse. It supported Heinz Guderian’s Panzerkorps in the vicinity of Sedan during the battle of the 12–14 May. It also hit French Air Force airfields in Amiens, Reims, Champagne and Arras. It moved into France in early June.
After the combat in France ended, Ober-Olm became a "Defense of the Reich
" airfield, with numerous night figher units (NJG) moving in and out until the spring of 1945.
Allied Army units moved into the Mainz
area in mid-March 1945 as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany and Ober-Olm airfield was attacked by Ninth Air Force
B-26 Marauder
medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolt
fighter-bombers to deny the retreating German forces use of the facility.
The airfield was taken by elements of the XII Corps, 90th Division, of the Third United States Army under the command of General George S. Patton, Jr.
on 22 March 1945. Combat engineers from IX Engineer command moved in with the 832d Engineering Aviation Battalion arriving on 25 March 1945, to repair the runway for use by combat aircraft. The engineers laid down a 5000' Square Mesh (SMT) all-weather runway over the existing east-west (07/25) bomb-cratered concrete runway, and laid out a second 4000' sod runway aligned 08/26. The engineers also performed minimal repairs to the facility to make it operational. On 27 March, the airfield was declared ready for Allied use and was designated as Advanced Landing Ground
"Y-64 Ober Olm".
Once repaired, the Ninth Air Force
10th Reconnaissance Group moved in, with photo-reconnaissance P-38 Lightning
(F-4) and P-51 Mustang
(F-5) aircraft to provide forward tactical reconnaissance to Army ground units moving into central Germany. On 8 April, P-47 Thunderbolt
s of the 354th Fighter Group moved in and attacked German army units, bridges and other ground targets of opportunity throughout Germany. In addition to the combat units, C-47 Skytrain
transports used the grass runway for combat resupply and casualty evacuation (S&E) missions constantly, moving munitions and supplies up to the battlefield and evacuating wounded to rear areas.
With the end of the war, Ober Olm Airfield was closed on 20 June 1945. United States Army forces moved out of Ober Olm, as French forces moved into the Rhineland as part of their occupation zone of Germany.
after 30 August 1946) as part of the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany
(German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, BRD) on 23 May 1949.
As part of their commitment to NATO, United States Army forces returned to the Mainz area, and took over the airfield, which was renamed Finthen Army Airfield. As a result of the establishment of the United States Air Force
in 1947, the Army could use the airfield for helicopters and light liaison and observation aircraft only.
The U.S. Army stationed in the mid-70s, the 205th Assault Support Helicopter Company (ASHC) "Geronimo" with some 20 helicopters, which are mostly to CH-acting 47C Chinooks. By 1988 the unit was moved to Mannheim, and here by the 295th ASHC Cyclones replaced.
On 16 and 17 November 1980 Holy Mass was celebrated by Pope John Paul II during his first major pastoral visit to Germany on the airfield with thousands of believers attending.
In the course of the war of the United States against Libya in 1986/87, the area was cordoned off because of the increased need for security fencing and militarily.
and the subsequent reorganization of U.S. forces, Finthen Army Airfield began to be closed down beginning in December 1991. In September 1992 the airfield was decommissioned and the facility turned over the Federal Republic of Germany. The final United States Army personnel departed in November, with the exception of a small RADAR station and training area at the site which remained under United States control.
Since the withdrawal of the United States Army, the airfield has been operated by the Mainz Aviation Club beginning in 1994, and on 1 August 2008, turned over to a commercial airport operator.
The airport has numerous World War II relics, the largest being the wartime German hangar. Several concrete dispersal hardstands can be found to the north side of the runway, along with the wartime parking apron. On the south side of the runway the wartime grass runway is still in use, along with the outline many dispersal pads and taxiways still visible in the grass area south of the runway. In addition to the airfield, many of the buildings in the former support area date back to their German wartime origins.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, located about 3 miles southwest of Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
(Rheinland-Pfalz); approximately 280 miles southwest of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
The airport serves the 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...
community, with no commercial airline service available. There are also a large number of sailplanes at the airfield. The airport operator is holding Flugplatz Mainz Betriebsgesellschaft mbH on behalf of the former operator of the Mainz Aviation Club.
The airport was first opened in 1939 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 (Fliegerhorst Ober-Olm). It was seized by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in 1945, and used by the United States as a NATO facility (Finthen Army Airfield) until the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. In 1992, the military airfield was returned to the Federal German government, which made it available to private operators as a civil airport.
Facilities
In addition to the airfield operations, Mainz Finthen offers instructional training for helicopters, ultralight aircraft and gyrocopters. Powered flight and gliding training are also offered. The airport has a modern refueling system offering AvGas, Jet-A1 and premium gasoline.There is a café and snack bar (opening times are not known). The viewing platform offers a view over the airport operations.
Luftwaffe use 1939-1945
Originally named Fliegerhorst Ober-Olm, the airfield was built as a LuftwaffeLuftwaffe
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, which opened in 1939. It was constructed by the Reich Labor Service from 1939 to 1942 as maintained by conscript laborers of the SS special camp Hinzert from 1942 until its capture by the United States Army in 1945.
During the early part of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Luftwaffe stationed several combat units at Ober-Olm during April and May 1940 in preparation for the attack in the West
Battle 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...
, those being:
- Jagdgeschwader 52Jagdgeschwader 52Jagdgeschwader 52 of the Luftwaffe, was the most successful fighter-wing of all time, with a claimed total of more than 10,000 victories over enemy aircraft during World War II. It was the unit of the top three scoring Fighter aces of all time, Erich Hartmann, Gerhard Barkhorn and Günther Rall...
(JG 52), Messerschmitt Bf 109Messerschmitt Bf 109The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
E fighters. - Jagdgeschwader 76Jagdgeschwader 76Jagdgeschwader 76 was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. JG 76 was first formed in 1939 in Wien-Aspern with only I. Gruppe . The Geschwader was renamed II./Jagdgeschwader 54 on 4 July 1940....
(JG 76), Messerschmitt Bf 109Messerschmitt Bf 109The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
E fighters. - Kampfgeschwader 2Kampfgeschwader 2Kampfgeschwader 2 " Holzhammer " was a Luftwaffe bomber unit during the Second World War. The unit was formed in May 1939. The unit operated the Dornier Do 17 light bomber, Dornier Do 217 and Junkers Ju 188 heavy bombers....
(KG 2), 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 light bombers.
From Ober-Olm JG 52 and 76 were involved in the air fighting during the Battle of France
Battle 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...
, both units moving west along with the advancing German forces. (KG 2) (Battle Wing 2) fielded 36 Dornier Do 17s, with 22 aircraft serviceable. KG2 supported German Army Group A’s crossing of the Meuse. It supported Heinz Guderian’s Panzerkorps in the vicinity of Sedan during the battle of the 12–14 May. It also hit French Air Force airfields in Amiens, Reims, Champagne and Arras. It moved into France in early June.
After the combat in France ended, Ober-Olm became a "Defense of the Reich
Defense of the Reich
The Defence of the Reich is the name given to the strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the Luftwaffe over German occupied Europe and Germany itself during World War II. Its aim was to prevent the destruction of German military and civil industries by the Western Allies...
" airfield, with numerous night figher units (NJG) moving in and out until the spring of 1945.
Allied Army units moved into the Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
area in mid-March 1945 as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany and Ober-Olm airfield was attacked by 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...
fighter-bombers to deny the retreating German forces use of the facility.
American wartime use 1945
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
on 22 March 1945. Combat engineers from IX Engineer command moved in with the 832d Engineering Aviation Battalion arriving on 25 March 1945, to repair the runway for use by combat aircraft. The engineers laid down a 5000' Square Mesh (SMT) all-weather runway over the existing east-west (07/25) bomb-cratered concrete runway, and laid out a second 4000' sod runway aligned 08/26. The engineers also performed minimal repairs to the facility to make it operational. On 27 March, the airfield was declared ready for Allied use and was designated as 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...
"Y-64 Ober Olm".
Once repaired, 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....
10th Reconnaissance Group moved in, with photo-reconnaissance P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
(F-4) and 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...
(F-5) aircraft to provide forward tactical reconnaissance to Army ground units moving into central Germany. On 8 April, 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 of the 354th Fighter Group moved in and attacked German army units, bridges and other ground targets of opportunity throughout Germany. In addition to the combat units, C-47 Skytrain
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
transports used the grass runway for combat resupply and casualty evacuation (S&E) missions constantly, moving munitions and supplies up to the battlefield and evacuating wounded to rear areas.
With the end of the war, Ober Olm Airfield was closed on 20 June 1945. United States Army forces moved out of Ober Olm, as French forces moved into the Rhineland as part of their occupation zone of Germany.
Postwar/Cold War use
The airport was taken over by the French military in July 1945, and engineers moved in to clear the wartime wreckage and rebuild the facility. The wartime runways were removed and a new, 1,000-meter-long asphalt runway was laid down. In the spring of 1949, the French withdrew from the Rhineland (Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
after 30 August 1946) as part of the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
(German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, BRD) on 23 May 1949.
As part of their commitment to NATO, United States Army forces returned to the Mainz area, and took over the airfield, which was renamed Finthen Army Airfield. As a result of the establishment of the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
in 1947, the Army could use the airfield for helicopters and light liaison and observation aircraft only.
The U.S. Army stationed in the mid-70s, the 205th Assault Support Helicopter Company (ASHC) "Geronimo" with some 20 helicopters, which are mostly to CH-acting 47C Chinooks. By 1988 the unit was moved to Mannheim, and here by the 295th ASHC Cyclones replaced.
On 16 and 17 November 1980 Holy Mass was celebrated by Pope John Paul II during his first major pastoral visit to Germany on the airfield with thousands of believers attending.
In the course of the war of the United States against Libya in 1986/87, the area was cordoned off because of the increased need for security fencing and militarily.
Civil use
With the end of the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and the subsequent reorganization of U.S. forces, Finthen Army Airfield began to be closed down beginning in December 1991. In September 1992 the airfield was decommissioned and the facility turned over the Federal Republic of Germany. The final United States Army personnel departed in November, with the exception of a small RADAR station and training area at the site which remained under United States control.
Since the withdrawal of the United States Army, the airfield has been operated by the Mainz Aviation Club beginning in 1994, and on 1 August 2008, turned over to a commercial airport operator.
The airport has numerous World War II relics, the largest being the wartime German hangar. Several concrete dispersal hardstands can be found to the north side of the runway, along with the wartime parking apron. On the south side of the runway the wartime grass runway is still in use, along with the outline many dispersal pads and taxiways still visible in the grass area south of the runway. In addition to the airfield, many of the buildings in the former support area date back to their German wartime origins.
See also
- Advanced Landing Ground