Stavanger Airport, Forus is a closed military airport

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 in the Forus

Forus

Forus is an industrial district in the borough Hinna in Stavanger, Norway. It borders to the Gandsfjord and stretches south and west to the municipalities Sandnes and Sola...

 area, in the municipalities Stavanger

Stavanger

Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...

, Sola

Sola

Sola is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Jæren. The old municipality of Håland was divided into Sola and Madla in 1930....

 and Sandnes

Sandnes

is a city and municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Jæren.-History:Sandnes was separated from Høyland as a municipality of its own in 1860, and gained city status the same year...

. It was built for 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....

by the German occupational forces during 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...

, on farm land cultivated at the site of the former lake Stokkavatnet

Stokkavatnet (Forus)

Stokkavatnet is a former lake that was located at Forus in Stavanger, Norway, between the two fjords Hafrsfjord and Gandsfjord. The lake was among the largest at the Northern Jæren district, with an area of about 4 km². It was surrounded by considerable areas of marsh land, and was known for a rich...

. The airport was later used as a heliport

Heliport

A heliport is a small airport suitable only for use by helicopters. Heliports typically contain one or more helipads and may have limited facilities such as fuel, lighting, a windsock, or even hangars...

, Forus Heliport, until it was closed in 1989. The area has later been developed for industry.

History

The construction of the airport started in 1940 by the German forces, who saw strategic advantages with two airports close to each other. The construction was demanding due to varying groundwork, and large areas of bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

. Ditches were dug to Gandsfjord

Gandsfjord

Gandsfjord is a fjord in Rogaland, Norway. Gandsfjord is an arm of Boknafjorden which is adjacent to the cities Stavanger and Sandnes. The entire west side of Gandsfjord is highly developed. The east side of the fjord has many mountains and peaks. In the outer parts of the fjord there are several...

 and Hafrsfjord

Hafrsfjord

Hafrsfjord is a fjord or bay located in the municipalities of Stavanger and Sola in Norway. Stretching 9 kilometres. Hafrsfjord fjord is bounded by Tananger, Sola and Madla...

. Most of the airport was finished in 1941, but due to difficult weather conditions Forus was not used as an operative base by the German forces, and used mostly for test flights and maintenance. The airport consisted of three concrete runways, including one 1,950 meter main runway. Three large hangars were built, as was a 5,000 m taxiway

Taxiway

A taxiway is a path on an airport connecting runways with ramps, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller airports sometimes use gravel or grass....

 between Forus and Sola Airport

Stavanger Airport, Sola

Stavanger Airport, Sola is an international airport located in Sola, Norway, southwest of Stavanger. It is Norway's third-busiest airport, with both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter traffic for the offshore North Sea oil installations...

.

From 1944 Jagdgeschwader 5

Jagdgeschwader 5

Jagdgeschwader 5 Eismeer was a Luftwaffe fighter Wing that served during World War II. As the name Eismeer implies, it was created to operate in the far North of Europe, namely Norway, Scandinavia and northern parts of Finland, all nearest the Arctic Ocean...

 was stationed at Forus with Messerschmitt Bf 109G and Focke-Wulf Fw 190A

Focke-Wulf Fw 190

The 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...

 aircraft. In 1945 a squadron of Arado Ar 234

Arado Ar 234

The Arado Ar 234 was the world's first operational jet-powered bomber, built by the German Arado company in the closing stages of World War II. Produced in very limited numbers, it was used almost entirely in the reconnaissance role, but in its few uses as a bomber it proved to be nearly impossible...

 was also moved to Forus. After the liberation on May 8, 1945 the Royal Norwegian Air Force

Royal Norwegian Air Force

The Royal Norwegian Air Force is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian armed forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peace force is approximately 1,430 employees . 600 personnel also serve their draft period in the RNoAF...

 used the hangars at Forus for maintenance, with the stationing of F84 Thunderjet

F-84 Thunderjet

The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 flew in 1946...

s. The Air Force was originally planning on only using Sola until Forus was expanded, but the latter never happened.

At the end of the 1960s the offshore oil platform

Oil platform

An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...

s in the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 started needing helicopter support, and Forus was chosen as a helicopter base. Helikoper Service

CHC Helikopter Service

CHC Helikopter Service, previously CHC Norway, CHC Helikopter Service and Helikopter Service was the Norwegian division of CHC Helicopter Corporation. The airline was an independent company until 1999...

 was the largest operator at Forus, and in 1968 they rented the one large hangar to house its two Sikorsky S-61N

Sikorsky S-61

The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the successful SH-3 Sea King helicopter. They are two of the most widely used airliner and oil rig support helicopters built.-Design and development:...

helicopers. Helicopter operations were moved to Sola in 1989 when the new heliport was opened there, and Forus was then closed.