| Erding Air Base | |
| Nativename: | German: Fliegerhorst Erding |
| Icao: | ETSE |
| Type: | Military |
| Owner: | Bundeswehr |
| Operator: | German Air Force |
| Location: | Erding, Germany |
| Elevation-M: | 462 |
| Elevation-F: | 1,515 |
| Pushpin Map: | Germany |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Label: | ETSE |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Erding Air Base |
| Metric-Rwy: | y |
| R1-Number: | 08/26 |
| R1-Length-M: | 2,521 |
| R1-Length-F: | 8,271 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
Erding Air Base (German: Fliegerhorst Erding, ICAO: ETSE) is a German Air Force airfield near the town of Erding, about 45km (28miles) northeast of central Munich in Bavaria. It is the home of the 5th Air Defense Missile Squadron and the 1st Air Force Maintenance Regiment.
The last public airshow at Erding was held during the summer of 1986.
Prior to and during World War II, Erding was a Luftwaffe pilot training airfield.[1] It was seized by the United States Army in April 1945 and used by the United States Air Force during the early years of the Cold War. Erding was used as an Air Depot, Air Base and an Air Station.
USAF units stationed at Erding were:
Redesignated: European Air Depot, 1 Sep 1945
Redesignated: Erding Air Depot, 5 Nov 1946
Redesignated: 7200th Air Force Depot Wing, 1 Jul 1948
Redesignated: 85th Air Depot Wing, 25 Jul 1949[2] 85 ADW was transferred to Twelfth Air Force on 21 January 1951. On 10 July 1952, 85 ADW and its supporting units were reassigned from Twelfth Air Force to HEADQUARTERS, USAFE.
Redesignated: 7485th Air Depot Wing, 1 Dec 1953
Redesignated: 7485th Support Wing (Training), 1 Apr 1956 – 15 May 1958[3]
Originally developed as an Air Depot in the early postwar years, the mission of Erding Air Base (later Station) was to provide depot-level maintenance of USAFE and NATO fighters. With the opening of Châteauroux-Déols Air Base, France in 1953, Erding became a satellite depot.
The mission of Erding Air Base was changed in 1956 to training personnel for the newly reconstituted German Air Force (GAF). The base was turned over to the GAF on 1 April 1957. On 14 December 1957, control of Erding Air Base was returned to the GAF as a front line facility where it hosted various F-104 Starfighter, Panavia Tornado and other fighter squadrons.
With the creation of NATO in response to Cold War tensions in Europe, USAFE wanted its major air bases in West Germany moved west of the Rhine River to provide greater air defense warning time. The establishment of the new bases in the Rhineland-Palatinate diminished the USAF use of Erding. It became an air defense facility in 1956 with the assignment of the F-86D equipped 440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, a detachment of the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing at Landstuhl Air Base until the arrival of the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger in Europe and budget cutbacks in 1960 forced its closure.
In 1966 with France withdrawing from NATO it left a gap in the air defense network of Europe. Operation Creek Ale filled that gap by rotating F-102 interceptors from various squadrons of the 86th Air Division based at Ramstein Air Base. Squadrons from Soesterberg Air Base, Zaragoza Air Base, Hahn Air Base, Bitburg Air Base and Ramstein Air Base rotated to Erding for air defense alert.
With the inactivation of the 86th Air Division in 1970, the 52d Tactical Fighter Group was formed at Erding in 1971 with some of the F-102s on a permanent basis. In 1972 the F-102s were withdrawn from Europe and the 52d TFG was inactivated.
Relegated to Air Station status, Erding hosted temporary duty units of North America-based USAF aircraft though the 1980s for short-term deployments as part of the annual Exercise Reforger.[4] [5]
From 2002 to 2013, the base was home to the GAF's 1st Air Force Maintenance Regiment . It is now the location of Waffensystemunterstützungszentrum 1.
| Erding Air Base Circuit | |
| Location: | Erding, Bavaria |
| Time: | CET (UTC+1) CEST (DST) |
| Events: | Interserie (1984–1985) DPM (1985) German F3 (1978, 1980–1986) |
| Layout1: | Full Circuit (1981–1986) |
| Length Km: | 2.540 |
| Length Mi: | 1.579 |
| Turns: | 9 |
| Record Time: | 0:52.830 |
| Record Driver: | Hans-Joachim Stuck |
| Record Car: | Porsche 956B |
| Record Year: | 1985 |
| Record Class: | Group C |
| Layout2: | Full Circuit (1979–1980) |
| Length Km2: | 2.540 |
| Length Mi2: | 1.579 |
| Turns2: | 12 |
| Record Time2: | 1:01.800 |
| Record Driver2: | Bruno Eichmann |
| Record Car2: | Argo JM3 |
| Record Year2: | 1979 |
| Record Class2: | F3 |
| Layout3: | Full Circuit (1978) |
| Length Km3: | 2.540 |
| Length Mi3: | 1.579 |
| Turns3: | 10 |
From 1978 to 1986, the aerodrome hosted some car races, such as Interserie, Deutschen Produktionswagen Meisterschaft and German Formula Three Championship championships.
The fastest official race lap records at the Erding Air Base circuit are listed as:
| Category | Time | Driver | Vehicle | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Circuit: 2.540 km (1981–1986)[6] | ||||
| 0:52.830[7] | 1985 Erding Interserie round | |||
| 0:53.670 | 1985 Erding Interserie round | |||
| 0:56.070[8] | 1985 Erding German F3 round | |||
| 0:59.210[9] | 1982 ADAC Flugplatzrennen Erding GT race | |||
| 1:04.790[10] | ||||
| Full Circuit: 2.540 km (1979–1980)[11] | ||||
| 1:01.800[12] | 1979 ADAC Flugplatzrennen Erding Formula 3 race | |||
| Full Circuit: 2.540 km (1978)[13] | ||||