Disused European Airfields

This was the first airfield of Orleans...the military training field of "Les Groues". Used by the military from 1884 to 1948 for soldier training, and as an airfield and flying school place in WW1, up to the 20's, when Saran was officially inaugurated.

JVM

We live and learn , thanks for that JVM. What is/was the purpose of the hardened track with circular ends?

Thank you! "Les Groues" will almost certainly get me enough hits to aide my research!

In post #11 I noticed the name Juvincourt, this made me think of Jouvaincourt - also known as Epinal or Mirecourt. It is in the Vosges region of France.

It was built as a NATO dispersal field in the '50s and it's main user was the Canadian AF. I was a regular visitor in the late '70s and early '80s.

At one time it was used as a staging post and training strip by Eastern European airlines (Aeroflot).

If anybody is interested, I could certainly expand on it's history.

gosport;73549 wrote:

In post #11 I noticed the name Juvincourt, this made me think of Jouvaincourt - also known as Epinal or Mirecourt. It is in the Vosges region of France.

It was built as a NATO dispersal field in the '50s and it's main user was the Canadian AF. I was a regular visitor in the late '70s and early '80s.

At one time it was used as a staging post and training strip by Eastern European airlines (Aeroflot).

If anybody is interested, I could certainly expand on it's history.

If you have anything I have not covered here[/URL ] I would sure like to read it!

It seems, unfortunately, that we are talking about two different places - there is just one letter difference in their names. Your's is in 'l'Aisne' and mine is in the 'Vosges'.

gosport;73801 wrote:

It seems, unfortunately, that we are talking about two different places - there is just one letter difference in their names. Your's is in 'l'Aisne' and mine is in the 'Vosges'.

In that case: go ahead, you got me curious!

RonaldV. Jouvaincourt is situated in the Vosges region (French departement 88), this is south of Nancy. I was a regular visitor in the late 70s and early
'80s. It was always reffered to as Mirecourt (the nearest larger town) but is also refered to as Epinal (the main town in the area - 40km to the south). There is not much info on the web.

It was built in the early '50s as a NATO diversion field, mainly for the CAF based at Grostemquin (some km to the north). In 02.66 it became civilian and run by the Chamber of Commerce from Epinal. There were flights to Lyon and Paris (which I used early '80s - an Air France Beech 99).

It was used as a staging/refueling stop by Eastern European airlines (mainly Aeroflot) flying to the Mediteranian and North Africa. Visitors included Caravelles, Corvair 990s and TU154s.

I was told by the control tower staff that it was often used by airlines doing pilot training (circuits and bumps), including Air France.

The field is still open but mainly for private charter and aeroclub.