Preserved Aircraft & Static Display

When we arrived at the Richthofen Kaserne in Wittmund we first took some shots of the F-4F which is preserved at a roundabout along road B210. Inside the Richthofen Kaserne we were able to take some shots of the Sabre and Starfighter which are preserved near the main building.

Around 10.30h we arrived at Wittmund airbase, where we were dropped near the static show which was located in front of the old Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen" hangar. This hangar is now used by BAe Flight Systems which operates six former Israeli AF A-4 Skyhawks.

One side of the static show consisted of four F-4F Phantoms of which three had a special colorscheme. A fourth special color Phantom could by photographed near the apron. This former JG 72 is now preserved at Wittmund. The other side of the static show consisted of three former users of Wittmund and one of the A-4 Skyhawks of BAE Flight Systems. The three old aircraft are normally preserved inside the base museum.

History of Wittmund AB

Already in 1911 a landing field for airships was constructed in Wittmund. Because the German Navy operated from the landing field this was named Wittmundhaven, written with a V, such as all other Navy installations. With the acceptance of the terrain by the Air Force in 1938 the name changed into Wittmundhafen. The first airship landed in Wittmundhaven in the afternoon the 7 November 1916. But the night that follow the airship was written off when it was tore off during a storm. In April 1917 three more airships were transferred to Wittmundhaven, but by early summer 1917 two were already destroyed. By the end of World War I all airships were destroyed, either by enemy fire or by the Germans themselves to be sure they didn’t fell in enemy hands.

In the year 1920 the hangars at Wittmundhaven were dismantled and the terrain was changed into farmland. However already in 1938, before the start of World War II they began with the construction of an airport. From 1943, Messerschmidt Bf-110 night fighters were stationed at Wittmundhafen in order to protect the navy plants in Wilhelmshaven against the heavy bombing raids of the allies. From the spring of 1944 Messerschmidt Me-163 rocket fighters were used for this task. Until March 1945 missions were flown from Wittmundhafen, but after a bombing raid on the airbase the runway was destroyed which made operations impossible.

At the end of World War II the airbase was completely destroyed for the second time and became an agriculture terrain again. In 1950 the Englishmen began building a new airport. This is the airbase we now know as Wittmund or Wittmundhafen, the home base of the Jagdgeschwader 71 “Richthofen” since 26 April 1963.