Flesland Air Station
| Flesland Air Station | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Joint (military and civilian) | ||||||||||
| Owner | Royal Norwegian Air Force | ||||||||||
| Location | Flesland, Bergen, Norway | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 50.6 m / 166 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 60°17′37″N 005°13′05″E / 60.29361°N 5.21806°ECoordinates: 60°17′37″N 005°13′05″E / 60.29361°N 5.21806°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
 BGO
|
|||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Flesland Air Station (Norwegian: Flesland flystasjon) is a military air base situated at Flesland in Bergen, Norway. Part of the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF), it shares a 2,990-meter (9,810 ft) runway with Bergen Airport, Flesland. The air station has since 1999 had a mobilization status and is only manned with six employees. Its main structure is an subterranean hangar with space for 25 fighter jets.
Construction began in 1952 and the following year the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) issued grants for a long runway. The facility cost 70 million Norwegian krone and opened on 14 September 1954. Flesland was never the permanent base of any squadrons. Its role was intended as a forward operating base for the United States Air Force (USAF) in case the Cold War turned hot. From about 1966 Flesland became a forward storage facility for nuclear warheads, which could be moved to the air station in case of war. From 1985 the became operational as a collocated operating base, with supplies and facilities for USAF aircraft. Flesland Air Station was gradually mothballed during the 1990s.
The first military air base to serve Bergen was Bergen Naval Air Station, situated on the island of Flatøy in what is today Meland. Construction was started in 1917 and was commissioned in August 1919. It served as one of the four main air stations for the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service until 1940. During the 1930s there were launched plans to build a land airport in Bergen. Flesland, which was at the time located in the then independent municipality of Fana, was one alternative. The other main alternative was Herdla, an island northern-most in Askøy. The main disadvantage with Flesland was the topography and that it would not be possible to build longer runways than 800 and 850 meters (2,620 and 2,790 ft), respectively.
...
Wikipedia