Hattfjelldal Airport ( no, Hattfjelldal flyplass) 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 ...

airport located in the village of Hattfjelldal, in Hattfjelldal Municipality in

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. The first simple landing field was constructed in 1933. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it was upgraded by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

to a concrete runway and it served as a strategic airfield during the

occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

, mostly for a stopovers. The concrete surface built by the Germans is still in use today and is operated by Hattfjelldal Flyklubb. There is no scheduled passenger traffic. The nearest such airports are

Hemavan Airport Hemavan Tärnaby Airport is an airport in Hemavan, Sweden. The nearest villages are Hemavan and Tärnaby, both of which are ski resorts. Also many Norwegians from Mo i Rana and surroundings use the airport. It is located in Storuman Municipalit ...

and Mosjøen Airport.

History

The airport was created as a simple landing field in 1933. With the break-out of World War II the airport was used by the

Norwegian Army Air Service The Norwegian Army Air Service (NoAAS) ( no, Hærens flyvåpen) was established in 1914.Official Norwegian Defence Force websiteHistory of the Royal Norwegian Air Force Its main base and aircraft factory was at Kjeller. On 10 November 1944, the ...

as a stop-over for flights heading to Northern Norway. After the German forces took control of the area in 1940 they immediately started construction of a wooden runway. More than a thousand people participated in the construction. This allowed them to use the airfield as a stopover for

Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's ...

s, especially for bombing raids during the

Battles of Narvik The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War. ...

. Throughout the war the airport saw daily landings of bombers in transit between Southern and Northern Norway. To improve the airport, it was upgraded with a concrete runway, which was completed in 1943. Prior to the war the only structures at Hattfjelldal were a church and some farms. By the end of the war there were significant structures which had been built at and around the airport, which were taken over by the community and became the municipal hall, school and community center. A major employer, Arbor, established itself in the hangar during the 1950s. An aviation club, Hattfjeldal flyklubb, was established in 1948. Activity was limited until 1960, when the club bought its first aircraft, an Auster Mark 5. With the assistance of the aviation club in Bodø, Hattfjelldal flyklubb was able to establish pilot's training for the first time in 1962. Training was conducted on Bodø's ski-equipped

Piper Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

. Three of the four pupils passed their exams. The club crashed their Auster in

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a historica ...

on 11 March 1963 and after that bought a

Piper Super Cub The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a two-seat, single-engine monoplane. Introduced in 1949 by Piper Aircraft, it was developed from the PA-11 Cub Special, and traces its lineage back through the J-3 Cub to the Taylor E-2 Cub of the 1930s. In close ...

, which could be equipped with wheels, skis and floats. Additional training commenced in 1972 with a leased

Cessna 150 The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 22-23. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. In 19 ...

, and later the same year the club bought a used

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.

. The latter crashed in Glomfjorden in 1975 and replaced by a new aircraft of the same type, which remains in use by the club. A third and final round of training was organized at Hattfjelldal in 1981.

Facilities

. The airport has a concrete runway which measures and is thick. It remains the only unmodified airfield from the war, as all other airfields have either been demolished or modernized. The hangar at the airport is the site of Arbor, which uses part of the runway as a storage facilities for its output.

References

{{Authority control Airports in Nordland Norwegian Army Air Service stations Luftwaffe airports in Norway Hattfjelldal Airports established in 1933 1933 establishments in Norway Military installations in Nordland