page_title: Værnes Air Station
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Værnes Air Station / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Værnesmoen, not Værnes Air Station, in 1936
context_page_description: Værnes Air Station is an air station of the Royal Norwegian Air Force located in the municipality of Stjørdal in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is co-located with Trondheim Airport, Værnes, which is owned and operated by Avinor. As an air station, the aerodrome is primarily used for the Marine Corps Preposition Program Norway, which involves the United States armed forces stationing equipment at Værnes and other facilities in the Trondheim region of central Norway. The Værnes military installations contain place for up to six aircraft of the size of a C-5 Galaxy and barracks to house 1,200 soldiers. It also serves the Home Guard, including its training center and the headquarters of the Trøndelag District. Formerly, the air force's pilot school was located at Værnes.
context_section_description: Værnes is first recorded in the 10th century as the seat for one of eight chieftains of Trøndelag. The first military activity in the area was as a base for leidang. After the Viking Age, the farm at Værnes was taken over by the king and became the seat of the vogt. From 1671, the farm was owned by a series of military officers and public servants. In 1887, the farm was bought by the Royal Norwegian Army and converted to a camp. The first aircraft to use Værnes was a military Farman MF.7 Longhorn, which took off on 26 March 1914. It was part of the plan to establish the Norwegian Army Air Service, for which Værnes was chosen as the initial station for Central Norway. Radio equipment was installed in 1919 and the first hangar was built in 1920. By 1922 the grass field serving as runway has become insufficient for newer planes, both in terms of length and level, but this was not performed until 1925. In 1927, parliament passed legislation to move the division to Rinnleiret from 1930, but this was later annulled. With the delivery of Fokker aircraft in 1930, the runway was again upgraded and extended.
  Værnes was surrendered to Luftwaffe on 9 April 1940, during the German occupation of Norway. On 24 April, 350 civilians started construction at Værnes, and within a few days 2,000 people were hired. On 28 April, a new 800 metres (2,600 ft) wooden runway was completed. The expansion was part of the plans for Festung Norwegen and was used as a bomber base for attacks on Northern Norway, and by May there were 200 aircraft stationed at Værnes. During the war, particularly in April 1940, the airport was subject to several bombings from the Royal Air Force. In June, work was started to clear the forests near the airport, and graves from the Viking Age were found. Construction was halted for several weeks while German and Norwegian archaeologists conducted research. In July, work started on building concrete runways, and by 1942 all three runways were finished. The east–west was made 1,620 metres (5,310 ft) long, the north–south was made 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) while the northwest–southeast was made 1,275 metres (4,183 ft) long. A number of taxiways were also constructed. A branch line of the railway was built to the hangars. By 1945, Luftwaffe had built about 100 buildings at Værnes. The land expropriated was estimated at between 1.6 and 3.0 square kilometres (0.62 and 1.16 sq mi). The Germans had also finished the control tower that had been under construction in 1940.
  After the war ended, the airport was initial taken over by the Royal Air Force, but they soon withdrew leaving the Norwegian military in charge. After the war, former S.O.E and later main battle unit RAF 138 Squadron was posted as attached to 130 wing to Vaernes between 27-August-1945 and 7-October-1945. Numerous squadrons, including 332, 331 and 337 were stationed at Værnes in the post-war years. In 1952 the pilot school was moved to Værnes, but in 1954 Ørland Main Air Station became the main air force base in Central Norway, and the majority of the armed air forces (with the exception of the school) moved to Ørland.
  After World War II, there was only general aviation at Værnes, organized by Værnes flyklubb and NTH flyklubb. From 1 August 1946 to 31 July 1947, there were 1,221 take-offs from Værnes, mostly during the summer. During parts of 1946 and 1947, the airport was used as a pasture for sheep. The first scheduled service was introduced with a Douglas DC-3 operated to Oslo by DNL during the winter of 1947–48. While there were many customers initially, the lack of sufficient de-icing caused low regularity and fewer customers through the season. The route was not reopened the following year.
  The air traffic control at Værnes was established in 1946, after the air force had sent personnel to the United Kingdom for training. The Telecommunications Administration took over the responsibility for the radio installations, and the responsibility for the meteorological services became the responsibility of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Trondheim Air Traffic Co
caption: Værnes in 1936
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