Grimbergen Airfield ( nl, Vliegveld Grimbergen, ) is a
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
aerodrome located in
Grimbergen, a municipality of the province of
Flemish Brabant
Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hain ...
in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
. Like many recreational aerodromes in Belgium, it is formally a private field, requiring prior permission to land from visitors. The airfield is home to motorized
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...
, either privately owned or belonging to two active aeroclubs. It also hosts an aircraft repair and maintenance company.
There are two remarkable hangars on the airfield, constructed in 1947 by builder-architect
Alfred Hardy (architect). Looking more like silos, they are in fact round hangars made of
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...
.
Vliegveld Grimbergen Loodsen (Dutch)
/ref>
The airfield was first created in 1939 by Belgian military, and came to full development by German occupation forces. After the war, it hosted the pilot's school of Belgian flag carrier Sabena
The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...
.
In 1989, as part of a political reorganisation, the aerodrome was passed from the Belgian national authority RLW/RVA to the regional Flemish government, who closed it soon after. The aerodrome reopened in 1997 at the hands of a private not for profit association, who have been running it since. A large part of the aerodrome had to be given up however, to be transformed into a forest, ''Lintbos''.
See also
* Transportation in Belgium
References
External links
Grimbergen Airfield - WikiAirports
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Airports in Flemish Brabant
Airports established in 1939
1939 establishments in Belgium
World War II airfields in Belgium