Valence-Chabeuil Airport
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Valence - Chabeuil Airport Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-23 Aéroport de Valence - Chabeuil |
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| Airport type | Public / Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Department of Drôme | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Syndicat Mixte de Gestion | ||||||||||||||||||
| Serves | Valence, Drôme, France | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Chabeuil | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 525 ft / 160 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 44°54′56″N 004°58′07″E / 44.91556°N 4.96861°ECoordinates: 44°54′56″N 004°58′07″E / 44.91556°N 4.96861°E | ||||||||||||||||||
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 LFLU
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Valence - Chabeuil Airport (IATA: VAF, ICAO: LFLU) is an airport in France, located about 5 miles (8 km) east of Valence (in the Drôme department, Rhone-Alpes region) and approximately 300 miles (483 km) south-southeast of Paris.
The airport was a pre-World War II French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) airfield. After the Battle of France, it was seized by Nazi Germany in November 1942. It was later used by the Luftwaffe, and after the Allied Invasion of southern France in August 1944, by the United States Army Air Forces Twelfth Air Force.
Used by the French Air Force base after the war, it was closed and today the airport is used for general aviation, with no commercial airline service. It is still occasionally used by military aircraft.
The airport's origin dates from the 1930s when the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) established Valence-Chabeuil Air Base. It was the headquarters for the Zone d'Opérations Aériennes des Alpes - Z.O.A.A.(Alps Air Operations Area). Known operational units assigned were:
The Potez was a heavy twin-engined fighter. With the outbreak of war in May 1940, the unit did not see action against the Germans in the Battle of France. However, operations were flown against the Italian Army (Regio Esercito) after the Italian invasion of France on 10 June. After the Second Armistice at Compiègne the Armée de l'Air units assigned to the airfield were ordered to French North Africa, and the airport was closed by the Vichy France government.
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