Drachten Airfield

About

Drachten Airfield (Dutch: Vliegveld Drachten) (ICAO: EHDR) is a small general aviation airfield in the Netherlands located in the province of Friesland, 1 NM (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) northeast of Drachten. It has one runway, 08/26, with an asphalt/concrete surface and a length of 950 m (3,117 ft). Customs services are available upon request to allow international flights.

The airfield was constructed in the 1950s by the Philips electronics company, which has a factory in Drachten. In an attempt to provide an avenue for otherwise illegal street races, the airfield is now also used for drag racing.

Drachten

Drachten is a Dutch city, located in the municipality of Smallingerland in the province of Friesland.

Drachten began as a small community on the east side of the Drait River. There, early settlers started draining the land to use it for agriculture. As the process of draining progressed, residents began to move further eastward in order to use the drained land—former peatbogs—for agriculture.

Around 1200 A.D., a small stone church was built. It was used for 200 years afterward, until rising waters drove people even further east.

By 1550 the Dutch peat reserve had been exhausted. Consequently, demand grew for peat from Friesland. The wealthy began to buy large plots of peatbog in order to turn them into peat and exploit them in large quantities. In 1641, wealthy residents of The Hague secured permission to dig a canal in Drachten. The canal made the peat drier, and hence more usable, and it allowed for the transportation of the peat, usually by ships(skûtsje:flat bottem barge) along the canal.

Along the side of the canal, pubs, shops, shipbuilding facilities, and public utilities, such as a rope-walk, were built. Around 1830, a town hall was built, and a notary public moved from nearby Oudega to Drachten.

The peat industry of Drachten lasted for 200 years. When it ended, the poorer workers stayed behind; some became small farmers, but most of them had no success.

In the post-war period between 1950 and 1991, Drachten grew by an average of 1,000 inhabitants a year. The arrival of the Philips company was a major contibutor to this growth. Today there are approximately 55,000 people living in Smallingerland.

Address:

Municipality of Smallingerland
Tussendiepen 78
P.O. Box 10000
9200 HA Drachten
The Netherlands

Tel: +31 (0)6 1104 1302, (0)512 581 700, (0)512 581 252

Fax: +31 (0)512 581 710, (0)512 581 533

Images and information placed above are from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drachten_Airfield
http://www.ais-netherlands.nl/aim/...EHDR

We thank them for the data!

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General Info
Country Netherlands
ICAO ID EHDR
Time UTC+1(+2DT)
Latitude 53.119167
53° 07' 09.00" N
Longitude 6.129722
006° 07' 47.00" E
Elevation 14 feet
4 meters
Magnetic Variation 000° W (01/06)
Operating Agency CIVIL GOVERNMENT, (LANDING FEES AND DIPLOMATIC CLEARANCE MAY BE REQUIRED)
Operating Hours SEE REMARKS FOR OPERATING HOURS OR COMMUNICATIONS FOR POSSIBLE HOURS

Communications
DUTCH MIL INFO 132.35

Runways
ID Dimensions Surface PCN ILS
08/26 3117 x 102 feet
950 x 31 meters PART CONCRETE, PART ASPHALT, OR PART BITUMEN-BOUND MACADAM. - NO

Thanks to: www.worldaerodata.com

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