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Hanau Army Airfield |
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 HANAU ARMY AIRFIELD / FLIEGERHORST KSN |
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 Hanau Army Airfield, 1980s |
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 Hanau AAF airport sketch (DoD VFR Routes, 1984) |
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 Hanau AAF enroute map (Dod VFR Routes, 1984) |
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| History | |||||||||
| ASSISTANCE REQUESTED: | |||||||||
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If you have any details on which units used the hangars or other facilities at Fliegerhorst during the 1950s-1980s, please contact me . (Actually, if you have ANY details on the organization and operation of the Army airfield at Hanau-Erlensee during the Occupation or Cold War eras, please give me a shout!) For example, in the 1950s, the 30th TAAM Company used the hangar to the right of the airfield tower (1). I would like to compile a list of the hangars and their using units through that period. |
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| RESPONSES: | |||||||||
| MID-1950s Hangar identified as (1) was used by the 30th TAAM Co. (Melvin Giles, 30th TC Co (AAM) - see email) I’ve been studying the picture of Hanau AAF. It’s been nearly sixty years since I rotated in 1957 but I remember that our barracks building faced across the street from the beloved Snack Bar and was across a side street from the post chapel. I could walk out of our supply room door at the south end of our barracks building, step over the curb and be in front of the chapel’s back entrance. We weren’t far from the hangars and I do believe the claim that 30th TAAM used Hangar 1 is incorrect. EARLY 1960s (Richard Wilder, 503rd Avn Co - see email and photos) Hangar identified as (2) belonged to the 503rd Avn Co, 3rd Armd Div. The 122nd direct support company was located in the hangar ID'ed as (1). The 503rd barracks were at (A); a storage building for the company was at (B). The only hard stand at Hanau AAF at the time was the one in front of the 503rd hangar (C). H-13, H-19, H-34 and H-37 helicopters were parked on the grass. (Webmaster's photo interpretation of Paul Buresh's Fliegerhorst Ksn photo (Hanau Page). Hangar identified as (6) was used by the 4th Aviation Company, H-37 MOJAVEs in 1965. EARLY 1970s (Perry Jackson, 66th Avn Co) (5) shared by 66th Avn Co and 350th Avn Co (Esteban Alejandro, Facebook) (6) V COSCOM Aviation Section) EARLY 1980s (Kevin Scherrer, A Co, 503rd Avn Bn - see email and photos) Hangar identified as (4) was the Bn SSA, I think. (3) - this building was split, when I arrived: half was for A/503, and the other half was the post gymnasium. (2) C Co, 503rd Avn Bn. 21 x AH-1, 12 x OH-58, 3 x UH-1. (B) SOTAS: Stand-Off Target Acquisition System. ___ x highly-modified UH-1's. Also on this side of the airfield were the 62nd Avn Co FW detachment and the Simulator building. |
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 The Det. 2, 7th Weather Sq (USAFE) briefing board at Fliegerhorst, 1964 (Charles Walker) |
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 Det. 2's teletype room. Most of the maps that you see on the briefing board (above) were received on the fax (Charles Walker) |
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| (Source: STARS & STRIPES, Aug 4, 1961) | |||||||||
| Hanau Army Airfield is operated by the 503rd Aviation Company, 3rd Armd Div. It is one of the busiest airfields in Germany - it handles over 5,000 takeoffs and landings a month. The 503rd Avn Co provides aviation support to the 3rd AD, services its own aircraft (fixed-wing as well as rotary) and runs a aerial observer school. The company comprises eleven platoons. Two additional units assist the 503rd's organic maintenance elements: the 53rd Trans Avn Detachment and Team 6, 143rd Signal Battalion. |
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 Airfield control tower and flight line in front of Hangar 1304 (Bill Leonhardt) |
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 OV-1C MOHAWK taxiing to hangar (Bill Leonhardt) |
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 View from Hangar 1301 - aircraft are H-34 CHOCTAW, OV-1 MOHAWK and U-6 BEAVER with O-1 BIRD DOGs in the distance (Bill Leonhardt) |
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 Internal view of airfield support buildings, Fliegerhorst Kaserne (Bill Leonhardt) |
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| 1965 | |||||||||
| (Source: Email from Bill Leonhardt) | |||||||||
| In April 1965, I was sent to Germany to join a Mohawk (aviation) unit. I was among the first men and, while they were getting organized at Hanau, I was sent to stay with the SAASSD in Echterdingen. I later joined in the 122nd Aviation Company in Hanau and was among the first crew chiefs because of the experience I got at SAASSD. The SAASSD stands for: Seventh Army Aviation Safety and Standardization Detachment. If you were a pilot just coming to Europe, you have to take training there. They had one or two of every type aircraft as well as a link trainer. So, I was in Echterdingen from April to either September or October 1965 and then I was in Hanau until the end of December. Then off to home and on to Viet Nam. |
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 An AH-1G COBRA takes off from a field location (Wolfgang Ott) |
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 A wonderful shot of an OH-58 on its pad at Fliegerhorst (Wolfgang Ott) |
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 A wonderful shot of an OH-58 on its pad at Fliegerhorst (Wolfgang Ott) |
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 The same OH-58 at Fliegerhorst Kaserne (Wolfgang Ott) |
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| 1970s | |||||||||
| (Source: Email from Wolfgang C. Ott, a German civilian who as a teenager lived near Kimbro Barracks, Murnau in the 1960s and 70s) | |||||||||
| I had the chance to visit an American friend at Fliegerhost Kaserne in the 1970s. Attached are some photos of the KIOWA observation and COBRA attack helicopters stationed there at that time. (Webmaster note: I believe the Cobra unit that Wolfgang visited was the 334th Attack Helicopter Company that arrived at Fliegerhorst in November 1972. The unit was equipped with AH-1G Cobra gunships. In 1978, the 334th would be redesignated as Company "C," 503rd Aviation Battalion.) |
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