Hilversum Airfield

Geschiedenis

Hilversum Airfield is a general aviation aerodrome 2.2NM south-southwest of Hilversum, a municipality and town in the Het Gooi region and the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. The airfield is used for general aviation including gliding and for parachuting.The field has three grass runways, 07/25, 13/31 and 18/36 with the respective lengths of 600m, 660m and 700m. An asphalt runway is planned in the near future. The majority of flights are with smaller single engine piston aircraft, either for training or recreational purposes.Though founded in 1939 with civil aviation in mind, because of the unrest in Europe, the Royal Netherlands Air Force took control of the airfield, using it as a base for Fokker C-5, Fokker C-10 and Koolhoven F.K.51 aircraft. On the 10 and 11 May 1940, the airport came under heavy attack by Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft. After Germany occupied the Netherlands later that month, they expanded the airport significantly for further military use.