- Sola Air Station
Infobox Airport
name = Sola Air Station
nativename =
nativename-a =
nativename-r =
image-width =
caption =
IATA = SVG
ICAO = ENZV
type = Military/Public
owner =
operator =Royal Norwegian Air Force
city-served =
location = Stavanger
elevation-f = 29
elevation-m = 9
coordinates = Coord|58|52|36|N|05|38|16|E|type:airport
website =
metric-elev = yes
metric-rwy = yes
r1-number = 18/36
r1-length-f = 9,369
r1-length-m = 2,856
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 11/29
r2-length-f = 8,035
r2-length-m = 2,449
r2-surface =Asphalt
stat-year =
stat1-header =
stat1-data =
stat2-header =
stat2-data =
footnotes =Sola Air Station airport codes|SVG|ENZV (Norwegian: Sola flystasjon) in
Sola municipality inNorway is operated by theRoyal Norwegian Air Force . Air Wing 134 is stationed at Sola along with Squadrons 330 and 334, both helicopter sqadrons.Also located at Sola is
Stavanger Airport, Sola and an aviation museum. Near Sola, atJåttå inStavanger isNATO sJoint Warfare Center .Operations
330 Squadron operates
Westland Sea Kingsearch and rescue helicopters. The 12 helicopters are also dispatched atRygge Air Station ,Ørland Main Air Station ,Bodø Main Air Station andBanak Air Station . All five air stations have one helicopter on stand by at any given time.334 Squadron is currently under deployment as it will be using
NH-90 helicopters. They will be delivered between 2005 and 2008. 334 Squadron will only have its command post at Sola, as the helicopters will be stationed on the newFridtjof Nansen class frigate s when they arrive.History
Opening
Sola Air Station was founded at
May 29 ,1937 byKing Haakon VII , and an air show with 42 planes marked the occasion. In 1939, it was decided to station military aircraft on the airfield (because of the tense situation unfolding in Europe at the time).August 5 ,1939 , the firstCaproni Ca.310 bomber landed here.Operation Weserübung
On
April 9 ,1940 , in reaction to the Germaninvasion of Norway , the bomber squadron was ordered to the east, but before they could take off, six German planes attacked. The bombers were damaged, only a few getting airborne to later be abandoned elsewhere and the airport was seized. Here, the first opposed landing byparatroopers took place as Germanfallschirmjäger s from 1st battalion of the 1st Regiment, 7th Flieger Division were dropped on the airfield. Around sixty fallschirmjägers became casualties as the air station's sole completed machine gunbunker fired on the attackers until being knocked out by ahand grenade , seriously wounding the gunner.Liberation and post-war
The next paratrooper landing at Sola took place
May 9 ,1945 . This time, it was British and Norwegian troops that recaptured the airfield.330 Squadron was the first Norwegian squadron to land after the war. The squadron had been founded in Britain during the war and Sola was the first airfield to host Norwegian war planes after the war. Squadron 330 was later disbanded, but the airfield remained as the biggest military airfield in the country up to the 1960s.
In early 1946, 333 Squadron came here, but it was moved to
Tromsø during theKorean War . In 1953 it came back, but left for Andøya in 1963. 331 Squadron came in 1952. It was later disbanded and reformed until it moved to Bodø in 1955. 718 Squadron was formed here in 1952 and remained until it was disbanded in 1982.Sola Air Station has been considered to be closed, but in the later years, the government has decided that it will continue as an airfield for maritime helicopter operations.
NATO Use
The
United States Air Force 426th Air Base Squadron provides support to 220 U.S. service members and their families working in support of NATO’s Joint Warfare Center. The squadron also supports “Operating Location-A” in Oslo, Norway, shipping for $50 million war readiness material and $900 million U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy equipment.External links
* [http://www.mil.no/pubs/fnett/forsvarsnett/luft/start/omlf/stasjoner/sola/ Royal Norwegian Air Force page on Sola Air Station] no icon
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