Berlin Tempelhof Central Airport (TCA)
General |
For historical information only, do not use for navigation or aviation purposes! |
| Coordinates | N5228 E01324 |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 164' |
| ICAO Location Indicator | EDBB (-1995), EDDI (1995-2008) |
Usage until 1945
Berlin airport
Current usage
Closed
Airfield Map |
Runways and Taxiways
Installation
Air traffic control
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Runways, Taxiways, Aprons |
For historical information only, do not use for navigation or aviation purposes! |
Runways
| Design. | Length | Width | Surface | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09R/27L | 2116 m | 42,50 m | ||
| 09L/27R | 2093 m | 42,50 m |
Radio navigation |
For historical information only, do not use for navigation or aviation purposes! |
Data for the year 1985:
| Station. | Freq. | Ident | Position | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DVORTAC | 114.1 | TOF | ATIS | ||
| VOT | 108.2 | Dots | |||
| Havel DVOR/DME | 113.3 | HVL | |||
| Lubars NDB | 413.5 | DLS | |||
| RWY 27L | ILS27L | 109.5 | IDLB | ||
| Planter NDB | 327 | DIP | 270°, 1.9 NM to THR 27L | ||
| RWY 09R | ILS09R | 109.7 | IDBR | ||
| Helmholtz NDB | 347 | DBR | 090°, 3.59 NM to THR 09R |
Radar |
For historical information only, do not use for navigation or aviation purposes! |
ASR, PAR (09R, 27L)
Communications |
For historical information only, do not use for navigation or aviation purposes! |
Radio
Data for the 1980s:
| Station. | Freq. | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin Center | 120.85, 353.8 | South Corridor | |
| 125.3, 293.8 | Center and North Corridor | ||
| 125.5, 134.65 | |||
| Berlin Approach | 120.95, 125.8, 132.65, 362.3 | ||
| 120.7, 345.3 | PAR 09R, 27L | ||
| Berlin Departure | 119.3, 372.0 | ||
| ATIS | 114.1 | TOF VORTAC | |
| Tempelhof Tower | 118.1, 337.3, 356.0, 358.0 | ||
| Tempelhof Ground | 121.9, 356.0 | ||
| Base Ops | 386.9 | ||
| Berlin Radio | 3479, 5661, 6598, 10084 | SELCAL |
Units |
1990: US Army Aviation Detachment: 6 UH-1H, 1 C-12C, 2 UV-20A; 7350th ABG
History |
1948/1949 Airlift
30OCT2008 Closing
24NOV2008 Last aircrafts left the airport
Images |
After 1945
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Aerial picture winter 1947/1948 (Photo: Berliner Flughäfen / Archiv)
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Approach from the east over the cemetery in 1948 (Photo: Berliner Flughäfen / Archiv)
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The 1980s
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Aerial picture from 14oct1983 (Source: DoD, THOMAS FARR)
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Aerial view from the open house 1989 (Photo: Berliner Flughäfen / Archiv)
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Main building 01jun1983 (Source: DoD, MASTER SERGEANT DON SUTHERLAND)
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"Welcome to Tempelhof Central Airport" (1984)
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Sign at the gate (1987) (Source: DoD, MSGT PAT NUGENT)
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"US Army Aviation Section - Berlin Brigade - Freedom City"
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Bell UH-1 Iroquois "Freedom City" (1984)
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One of the two Pilatus UV-20 Chiricahua
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Beech U-21A King Air 66-18010 "Freedom City" (1984)
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1994 until 2008
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The main building in the year 2006 (Photo: Berliner Flughäfen / Archiv)
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31oct2008: The final day (Photo: Günter Wicker / Photur / Berliner Flughäfen)
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Radar Equipment
Height Finder
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Removing the height finder in october 1984 (Photo: DoD, RAMI HARCSZTARK)
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AN/FPS-117
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The radar tower in the year 1984. The radom shows a segmented structure, which is not visible anymore on the following picture from 2005
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The radar tower in the year 2005. Now the radom has a clean surface. Also the diameter seems to be greater than before. (Photo: Günter Wicker / Photur / Berliner Flughäfen)
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Short before exchanging the radom?
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Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR)
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ASR in the year 1983 (Photo: DoD, Thomas Farr)
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ASR in the year 1987 (Photo: DoD)
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The empty radar tower in the year 2004 (Photo: Berliner Flughäfen)
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Berlin Air Route Traffic Control Center (BARTCC) and Tempelhof Automated System (TAS)
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01sep1982: "TSGT James Elmore of the 1946th Communication Squadron is an air traffic approach controller at the Tempelhof Central Airport." (Photo: DoD, THOMAS FARR)
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01jan1986 (Photo: DoD, CHIEF MASTER SGT. SUTHERLAND)
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01apr1987 (Photo: DoD, THOMAS FARR)
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Radar console GPN-22 (Photo: DoD, THOMAS FARR)
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Grafical display (Photo: DoD, THOMAS FARR)
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Airport information, radio frequencies and radio navigation aids (Photo: DoD, THOMAS FARR)
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Radar Pictures
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Radar screen from the 25mar1986 or 01apr1987, probably from the AN/FPS-117 (Source: DoD, THOMAS FARR)
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Graphic with explanations
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| Airfields | |
| Berlin | Gatow, Tegel, Tempelhof |
| East Germany | Schonefeld, Briest, Mahlwinkel, Oranienburg, Schonhauser Damm, Zerbst |
| Radio beacons | |
| Berlin | HVL=Havel, DLS=Lubars, TGL=Tegel, TOF=Tempelhof |
| Federal Republic of Germany | BKD=Brunkendorf, HLZ=Hehlingen |
| East Germany | NUF=Nunsdorf, RSF=Reinsdorf |
| Airways | |
| Corridors | North Route 1, North Route 2, Center Route 1, Center Route 2, South Route 1, South Route 2, Havel Transition |
| Federal Republic of Germany | B 29, B 29 S, B 29 E, G 9, G 9 N, G 9 S |
| East Germany | B 50 |
| Reporting points | |
| Corridors | AKENA, ALANU, ELBEN, GUSEN, KIRIS, KONEN, LIKTI, LINDU, NIDAR, NUVEN, RINOV, ROSLA, VELTE |
| The names of the reporting points are derived from nearby locations. Up to the general switch to 5-letter-names, the full name was used, e.g. KONEN=KONNERN, RINOV=RHINOW, VELTE=VELTEN | |
| Targets | |
| AF123 | With northwesterly heading in the North Corridor, short in front of the Brunkendorf beacon. "85" could be the height (Flight level FL85, in the corridors, flight levels ending on 5 were used, probably to be able to use the maximum agreed level FL95). |
| PA725 | Center Corridor, "86"=Height FL86?, "37"=Ground speed 370 kt?, "HSAV" (?) unknownr, "D" unknown. Die white line to the HLZ beacon is described below. |
| ??? | Target in the Center Corridor, flight ID unreadable on the original picture. |
| 6227 | In the area of the South Corridor, near the reporting point ROSLA, probably an east german or soviet aircraft. If "156" is the altitude FL156, then the target would be well above the maximum agreed altitude for a corridor. "6227" could be the transponder code. The code area "62" was assigned to east germany, but mainly used for international flights that began in east germany; so the westerly heading of this target does not match to it. |
| 044 | This target moves parallel to the corridor in southwestern direction. The length of the line for the projected flight path indicates high speed. |
| Others | |
| Data block | The data area is not fully readable on the orginal picture. "1.:14:23" looks like the time, "CI:D" unknown, "OP:..." unknown, "RS:..." unknown, "BRG/RNG: ..." direction and distance for the measurement tool, it begins at the target "PA725" and ends at the HLZ beacon, so it should show direction and distance from the target to HLZ. "BP:29.92" looks like "Barometric Pressure Setting" (in inch), maybe to adjust the measured heights from this 3D radar to the barometric measured altitudes; "SR" unknown, "3D" unknown, "DB" unknown |
| COAST LIST | The COAST LIST shows targets which disappeared from the radar. Here it is empty. |
| Stars | In each corridor, in a distance of about 35 NM, there are two stars shown. They are positioned approximately on the flying routes, but in two cases they are quite away (see southwest of Briest airfield). Purpose unknown. |
| Circles | In the area of the Berlin Control Zone, there are three circles visible. They match to the high radio masts of Zehlendorf (east of Oranienburg), Frohnau and TV tower. In the lower left corner of the picture, there is another circle partly visible. It could belong to the Brocken mountain. |
| White dots | In a distance of about 90 NM, north of the southern corridor, there is a white dot shown. It is the area of Quedlinburg. The purpose is unknown. Another white dot can be seen west-northwest of HLZ beacon. Purpose unknown. And there are some dots in the Berlin Control Zone, which are also unclear to me. |
The screens looks empty, probably because no primary radar information is shown. Therefor, only targets with an active transponder are visible.
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Radar picture from the 26jan1989 (Photo: DoD, CMSGT. DON SUTHERLAND)
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Commented graphic
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Please see the picture above for an explanation of the airfields, airways etc. Texts which is unreadable on the original picture is shown as # in the graphic.
In contrast to the picture above, primary data is shown here. With it, you get a good impression of the flying activities in the southwestern part of former east germany. Clutter is shown in the Berlin area.
The primary targets show their past positions with dots. They also show a figure, ending with "M". This looks like the height of the target, but probably, "M" does not mean "meter". Instead, it could symbolize that the height is measured by the 3D radar (in contrast for being transmitted by the transponder)
To save some efforts when creating the graphic, the past position symbols are not shown dot by dot. Instead, I draw a dotted line along the chain. But it means that the speed-dependend distance between two dots can only be recognized on the photo.
Interesting are the three sequenced primary targets that are on a long left turn in the Dobeln area. On the photo, the past position symbols have great distances, so the targets seems to move at high speed.
The measurement instrument "hangs down" from the HLZ beacon. Accordingly, the textblock shows: BRG/RNG: 174/012.
Approach lights in the east (Neukolln)
Pictures from 2004 - 2010
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Masts at the St.-Thomas cemetery
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High mast
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Low mast
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Looking to the east
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Approach lights on top of a roof (Hermannstr.)
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Additional information |
Polish Aircraft at Tempelhof
Several times, planes from Poland were hijacked or used to escape. Among others:
- 12JUN1982 Yak-12A SP-ABX Flight from Wroclaw Szymanow to Tempelhof. The aircraft was painted with red stars to confuse the air defense.
- 17SEP1983 An-2 SP-ANK The flight began on the airfield of Przylep, near Zielona Góra. On board were Jan Z. (pilot) and Mieczysław S., who both coordinated the escape. At an intermediate stop on a field near Letnica, 7 more people were picked up, including 4 childrens.
In 2005-2006 Polish TV made series of films - dramatized documentary - under the general title: "Wielkie Ucieczki" (Great Escapes), see http://www.filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php/4221384 (polish). One of the episodes describes in detail the An-2 SP-ANK escape story. The title of this episode is:"Tempelhof - Brama do wolności" (Tempelhof - Gate to freedom), see http://wielkieucieczki.onet.pl/1328082,filmy.html (polish).- 25OCT1983 Yak-12 SP-KLA The aircraft belonged to the Aeroclub Swidnik. The flight to Tempelhof began at the airfield of Leszno.
Yak-12 SP-KLA on the 25OCT1983 at Tempelhof (Source: DoD, Thomas Farr)
- 15SEP1984 PZL-101 Gawron SP-CGF Flight from Szczecin Dąbie to Tempelhof.
FOUR TIMES THROUGH THE BERLIN WALL TO POLAND
General procedures
Each time I was delegated to Berlin as an employee (among others pilot and flight instructor) of the Aero Club of Poland (all four aircraft were property of the Aero Club of Poland). I have preserved - until now - my personal three DDR passes through the Berlin Wall !!! (Friedrichstrasse - Checkpoint Charlie).
Visas for Janusz Krasicki to travel to Tempelhof (Ich distanziere mich von der hier gezeigten missbräuchlichen Verwendung des Begriffs "Staatsgrenze" durch DDR-Organe im Zusammenhang mit der Situation in Berlin. BK.)
The normal procedure was that each time on arrival in East Berlin (three times Ostbahnhof, one time Schönefeld) I had contacted Polish Embassy (Unter den Linden) or I had been met by gentlemen from LOT Polish Airlines in East or West Berlin, then I was conveyed through the Berlin Wall (Friedrichstrasse) to the Polish Military Mission in West Berlin (Grunewald, Lassenstrasse 19-21; now the Polish Embassy HQ). The Mission was responsible for all further arrangements with American authorities at Tempelhof and gentlemen from the Mission were quite experienced owing to previous Polish landings at this airport.
My four flights
The normal route was, in principle: Tempelhof – Drewitz/Dreilinden (= Checkpoint Bravo) - VOR NUF (Nunsdorf) - NDB BKW (Beeskow) - SUI (Slubice) - .... But in practice each time the route was slightly different.
1) 16.06.1982: Jak-12A SP-ABX It appeared that there is no petrol at Tempelhof as only jet fuel was available (only turbine-engined aircraft were operating from Tempelhof) and there was not enough fuel in the plane’s tanks for the flight to Poland. So it was decided that I must make a short flight to Schönhagen for refuelling. (I had occasion to visit this big GST (Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik) centre a year before when I was a member of the Polish team that attended the World Gliding Championships in Paderborn in 1981; and on return route from Paderborn - with 4 gliders on trailers - we stayed overnight in Schönhagen.).
Now my departure from Tempelhof was delayed, as earlier that day I had to pay a visit to GST HQ (and DDR Aeroklub) in East Berlin to discuss details of the flight and refuelling. So I reached Schönhagen only in the evening and I spent the night here, to continue my flight the next day, June 17, via Beeskow - Slubice - to Zielona Góra (Przylep Airfield) = the place of An-2 hijacking in 1983. Here there was passport control and a long interrogation by a special officer; and only after that I followed to Wroclaw / Szymanow, where the plane was from.
2) 20.09.1983: An-2 SP-ANK This time it appeared the day before (September 19) that there is not enough engine oil in the plane’s oil tank. So oil (Soviet oil MS-20, widely used in the East in engines of Soviet origin) was specially transported to Tempelhof from Schönefeld in the morning on September 20th.
As concerns fuel: this time petrol was available at Tempelhof and we took 300 litres. (There were only about 100 litres in the fuel tanks. On September 17, when An-2 departed from Zielona Góra, the left fuel level warning lamp lighted up - as reported later by the pilot, Jan Z. - just after take off, the right one after crossing the DDR border; the lamps light up indicating about 80 litres in left or right tanks).
The flight route was – this time – exactly as laid down in official rules: Tempelhof – Drewitz/Dreilinden - VOR NUF (Nunsdorf) – BKW (Beeskow) - SUI (Slubice). The An-2 was not fitted with VOR (like other Polish Aero Club’s aircraft in those years), but I had identified the VOR on the ground (map and coordinates). Destination - in the Flight Plan - was Zielona Góra / Przylep, but after crossing the DDR/Polish border the weather dramatically deteriorated and we had been directed to Poznan / Lawica.
An-2 SP-ANK: Engine check prior to departure for Poland. Crew: Janusz Krasicki (Pilot), Józef S. (flight engineer) 20.09.1983 (Source: DoD, Thomas Farr)
3) 27.10.1983: Jak-12A SP-KLA and 4) 19.09.1984: PZL-101 SP-CGF The route was slightly amended in that it was not necessary now to overfly Drewitz/Dreilinden road border crossing, so I flew: Tempelhof - NUF - BKW - SUI - EPPO (Poznan Lawica). As the Jak-12A SP-KLA was from the Aero Club in Swidnik (near Lublin), I spent the night 27/28 October in Poznan and on 28 October I continued to Warsaw Babice. With PZL-101 SP-CGF in 1984, I finished in Poznan.
To avoid possible problems with MS-20 oil, on both last trips to Berlin I brought a 3-litre plastic container with MS-20; (I used it for Jak-12A; PZL-101 was OK). But another device that appeared indispensable (I was, providently, equipped with) was an adapter (connection terminal) for compressed air; American air piping terminals did not fit Russian inlets (compressed air is used in these aircraft for starting engine and for operating flaps and wheel brakes; in many aircraft the compressed air installation is not tight and bottles must be refilled from an external source).
Air Traffic Control
I had been in radio contact with both US controllers on Tempelhof and with East German air traffic control, though in two cases this communication was not easy to establish and maintain: two of four aeroplanes were fitted with quite obsolete equipment (4-channel transceivers R-800), so there were air traffic controllers that were kind enough to tune to one of my only four frequencies !!!).
Janusz Krasicki
Links |
General
Google Maps
http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=Sch%C3%B6nefeld&...
Wikipedia (german)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flughafen_Berlin-Tempelhof
tempelhofer feld
Airport history
http://www.zentralflughafen-tempelhof.de/
Planeboys
A lot of nice pictures
http://www.planeboys.de/thf/indexthf.htm
Until 1945
TU Berlin Architekturmuseum
Maps and sketches to the airport from Ernst Sagebiel
http://architekturmuseum.ub.tu-berlin.de/index.php?set=1&p=61&D1=Sagebiel&D...
1945-1994
Airliners.net: Bilder von 1960 bis 1969
A lot of nice historic pictures
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=&airlin...
Airliners.net: Bilder von 1970 bis 1979
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=&airlin...
Airliners.net: Bilder von 1980 bis 1989
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=&airlin...
Airliners.net: Bilder von 1990 bis 1994
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=&airlin...
1994-2008
Homepage of the Berlin Airports to which also Tempelhof belonged to.
http://www.berlin-airport.de
Aerial picture 02/2001
http://www.airliners.net/photo/0180287/L/
Aerial picture from the west 05/2003
http://www.airliners.net/photo/0477033/L/
Airliners.net: Pictures from 1994 until 1999
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=&airlin...
Airliners.net: Pictures from 2000 until 2009
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=&airlin...
Landung in Berlin Tempelhof am 25.7.08
Video approach 09L
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkwg1P_98jo
Dornier 228 Berlin Tempelhof RWY 09L
Video approach 09L
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c14UpCWAOH4
Final Rwy 09R with Dash 8-314 OE-LSB
30may2004
http://www.airliners.net/photo/0599585/L/
Berlin Tempelhof Approach
Cockpit video from a ATR42-300 of Avanti Air on the approach to 09R
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_O4VkYWexU
Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander
Cockpit view on the final approach to 27L
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Air-Hamburg/Britten-Norman-BN-2-Islander/141...
Short Final Rwy 27L
18sep2004
http://www.airliners.net/photo/0677189/L/
Dornier 328 Cirrus Airlines
Video from the take-off with the buildings at Oderstrasse in the background.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvyo7EDBUI0
Approach to land
Video of the approach of a Boeing 737 to 27L
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWwYKyi_N9I
Approach Airport Berlin Tempelhof EDDI
Video from the approach to 27R
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEtqCVkyH8M
Cockpitview - Landung DA40 in Tempelhof
Video from the approach to 27R
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLIhG6u4aio
Goodbye Tempelhof | The last day
Great video from the last official day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S22ul5iCJ8Y
Letzter Funkspruch am 30.10.2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yixeA7TGyK4
Die (aller-) letzten Starts in Tempelhof (1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yeyBViJqvI
Die (aller-) letzten Starts in Tempelhof (2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XidyBBfDUtA
Die (aller-) letzten Starts in Tempelhof (3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8jS4EUbpxA
Die (aller-) letzten Starts in Tempelhof (4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB5PXI4REfs
Letzter Abflug Tempelhof 24.11.2008
TV report from mdr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsPxv24CcMM
Fast wie in der DDR: Fotografierverbot und Behördenschikane zum Abflug in Tempelhof
Report in Pilot und Flugzeug (German only)
http://www.pilotundflugzeug.de/servlet/use/Home.class?frame&main={http://ww...
Since 2008
Internetseite der BIM - Berliner Immobilienmanagement GmbH
http://flughafen-berlin-tempelhof.com/index.php?id=8
Bibliography |
Ries, Karl; Dierich, Wolfgang:
'Fliegerhorste und Einsatzhäfen der Luftwaffe'
Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart, 1993
Allied map
Zapf, Jürgen:
'Flugplätze der Luftwaffe 1934-1945 - und was davon übrig blieb / Berlin & Brandenburg'
VDM Heinz Nickel, Zweibrücken, 2001
3,5 pages description, map and current pictures
'Gelandet in Berlin - Zur Geschichte der Berliner Flughäfen'
Berliner Flughafengesellschaft mbH, ca. 1974
Freundt, Lutz:
'Mauerflieger - Berlin-Luftkorridore - Flughafen Tempelhof'
AerLit - Verlag und Medienvertrieb, Diepholz, 2001
History and pictures 1945-1990
Jeschonek, Friedrich; RIedel, Dieter; Durie, William:
'Alliierte in Berlin 1945-1990'
Berlin Verlag Arno Spitz GmbH, Berlin (2002)
Przychowski, Hans von:
'Luftverkehr in Berlin - Die Flughäfen im Wandel der Zeit 1945 - 1996 (eine Zeittafel)'
Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1996
Airfields in the vicinity |
For historical information only, do not use for navigation or aviation purposes! |
321°/12 km Berlin Tegel
144°/13 km Schönefeld
272°/18 km Berlin Gatow
