Largest Storage Facility In Europe- Châteaudun

[PilotJedi]

Châteaudun air base formed in 1951 is the largest aircraft storage centre in Europe. It is essentially a Gallic version of AMARG (Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group), but unlike Davis Monthan AFB in the dry Arizona desert heat, the Armée de l'air (AdA) has to store its reserve fleet of aircraft inside climate controlled hangars awaiting a time when they are either returned to service or otherwise disposed of from the inventory. Anyone got any stories or some interesting information to tell about this place, please share.


http://i.imgur.com/IczHOoH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/6cEGNYN.jpg

Full Album here : http://www.aviationcv.com/pilot-forum/Thread-Largest-Storage-Facility-In-Europe-Ch%C3%A2teaudun

[Orval Fairbairn]

In article >,
PilotJedi > wrote:

> Châteaudun air base formed in 1951 is the largest aircraft storage
> centre in Europe. It is essentially a Gallic version of AMARG (Aerospace
> Maintenance and Regeneration Group), but unlike Davis Monthan AFB in the
> dry Arizona desert heat, the Armée de l'air (AdA) has to store its
> reserve fleet of aircraft inside climate controlled hangars awaiting a
> time when they are either returned to service or otherwise disposed of
> from the inventory. Anyone got any stories or some interesting
> information to tell about this place, please share.
>
>
> [image: http://i.imgur.com/IczHOoH.jpg]
>
> [image: http://i.imgur.com/6cEGNYN.jpg]
>
> Full Album here : http://tinyurl.com/q9ujpk9

I wonder if any of those Epsilons are for sale to civilians. A friend
here has one -- it is a sweet-flying bird.

[Netko]

On Fri, 18 Jul 2014 11:33:39 +0100, PilotJedi wrote
(in article >):

> Châteaudun air base formed in 1951 is the largest aircraft storage
> centre in Europe. It is essentially a Gallic version of AMARG (Aerospace

Thanks for this - an interesting place which I'd never heard of before.

I have a question. What does the Wikipedia English language entry for
Châteaudun mean when it says that, during WW2, its new German owners
'undertook infrastructure projects including the construction of zones of
loosening called "daisies" and the track'?

I assume it's a translation problem but I can't get my head round it; neither
the French nor German Wikipedia entries appear to have anything equivalent.

Can anyone help?

[Andrew Chaplin]

Netko > wrote in
:

> On Fri, 18 Jul 2014 11:33:39 +0100, PilotJedi wrote
> (in article >):
>
>> Châteaudun air base formed in 1951 is the largest aircraft storage
>> centre in Europe. It is essentially a Gallic version of AMARG
>> (Aerospace
>
> Thanks for this - an interesting place which I'd never heard of before.
>
> I have a question. What does the Wikipedia English language entry for
> Châteaudun mean when it says that, during WW2, its new German owners
> 'undertook infrastructure projects including the construction of zones
> of loosening called "daisies" and the track'?
>
> I assume it's a translation problem but I can't get my head round it;
> neither the French nor German Wikipedia entries appear to have anything
> equivalent.
>
> Can anyone help?

The "daisies," or "margarites" in French and shortened to "marg" in
English military slang, were likely dispersal areas for aircraft served by
a track that led to the taxiways. Vestiges of the post-war variety can be
seen on the airfield of the former CFB Baden-Soellingen on Google maps at
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=CFB+Baden-Soellingen,+Rheinm%C3%BCnster,
+Germany&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=48.781787,8.090572&spn=0.016062,0.038452&sll=
37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=39.456673,78.75&t=h&z=15.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)

[Netko]

On Sat, 19 Jul 2014 15:19:39 +0100, Andrew Chaplin wrote
(in article >):

> The "daisies," or "margarites" in French and shortened to "marg" in
> English military slang, were likely dispersal areas for aircraft served by
> a track that led to the taxiways. Vestiges of the post-war variety can be

Ah, 'zones of loosening' = 'dispersal areas'. It's obvious now.

Thanks.

[Andrew Chaplin]

Netko > wrote in
:

> On Sat, 19 Jul 2014 15:19:39 +0100, Andrew Chaplin wrote
> (in article >):
>
>> The "daisies," or "margarites" in French and shortened to "marg" in
>> English military slang, were likely dispersal areas for aircraft
>> served by a track that led to the taxiways. Vestiges of the post-war
>> variety can be
>
> Ah, 'zones of loosening' = 'dispersal areas'. It's obvious now.
>
> Thanks.

Change made in Wikipedia.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)