Koksijde Air Base is a
Belgian Air Component
The Belgian Air and Space Component (, ) is the Air force, air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force (; ). It was founded in 1909 and is one of the world's oldest air services.
...
facility in
Koksijde
Koksijde (; ; ) is a town and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in Belgium. It is located on the North Sea coast in the southwest of the Flanders, Flemish province of West Flanders.
The municipality comprises apart from Koksijde, the v ...
, north northwest of
Veurne
Veurne (; , ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Veurne proper and the settlements of , , ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. 40 Squadron, historically operating 5
Westland Sea King Mk.48 helicopters for
search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
(SAR) duties. Also based at Koksijde Air Base were
Aérospatiale Alouette III
The Aérospatiale Alouette III (, ''Lark''; company designations SA 316 and SA 319) is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by France, French aircraft company Sud Aviation. During its production life, it proved to be a popular ro ...
helicopters. The Westland Sea King Mk.48 and Alouette III helicopters were replaced with
NH90
The NHIndustries NH90 is a European medium-sized, twin-engine, multirole military helicopter. It was the first production helicopter to feature entirely fly-by-wire flight controls.Perry, Dominic"Rotor club: Our top 10 most influential helico ...
NFH helicopters starting in March 2012.
It features two airframes as gateguard: a
Hawker Hunter F.4, and a
Sikorsky S-58C, both ex-Belgian Air Force. Finally, one more Sikorsky S-58C is stored and used for static displays.
This base was featured in the popular TV show "Windkracht 10" and in the movie ''
Windkracht 10: Koksijde Rescue''.
Like many Belgian Air bases, both active and non-active, it is available to private recreational aviation during weekends.
West Aviation Club
/ref>
During World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the base was used by the German Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
. In 1942, one of their assignments was fighter protection for the German battleships '' Scharnhorst'' and '' Gneisenau'' and the heavy cruiser '' Prinz Eugen'', when these ships successfully broke out from Brest, in France, through the English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
to Germany. One of the Luftwaffe pilots based at Koksijde who was involved was Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer
Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer (16 February 1922 – 15 July 1950) was a German Luftwaffe night-fighter pilot and the highest-scoring flying ace, night fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. A flying ace is a military aviation, military ...
, who eventually became the highest-scoring night fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare.
See also
* 40th Squadron Heli
References
External links
*
Airports established in 1915
Belgian airbases
Airports in West Flanders
Koksijde
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