Avnø

55°05'16"N 11°45'37.01"E

runway: n/a - ...x...m - grass

Avnø airfield (Air base Avnø, danish: Flyvestation Avnø, ICAO: EK..) was an airfield 80 kilometers southwest of Copenhagen.
The airfield was built around 1930 as Naval Air Station (Danish: Luftmarinestation) Avnø. Immediately after World War II it was transferred to the newly formed Air Force and it reopened in 1946.
It was the replacement for the Flight Schools of the Army Flying School and Naval Flying School at Kløvermarken airfield. The airfield was officially renamed Flyveskolen (Flying School) in 1951. As it was rebuilding itself after World War II, the Danish Air Force lacked trainers. By the end of 1946 the Air Force had received 15 new Kramme&Zeuthen KZ-IIT trainer aircraft, of which the prototype had only made its first flight in April of that year. The aircraft was a pleasure to fly and was used for primary training until 1955, when the remaining 9 were sold to civilians. The KZ-IITs were replaced by DH Chipmunks, built in Canada.
Pilots would then leave for the advanced course at Karup, to fly a mixed fleet of Harvard Mk IIA/IIB/III and T-6D Texans, introduced from December 1946. Danish Prince Henrik flew solo in the Chipmunk in 1968, but unlike his fellow students he was not trown in the fire pond upon his landing. The Chipmunks were replaced by Swedish built SAAB T-17 Supporters between 1975 and 1976.
The airfield saw a considerable upgrade in the mid 1980s. Most of the infrastructure was renovated and a new control tower was built. In 1992 the decision was made to move the Flight School to Karup air base the following year.


A KZ-IIT at the airfield, ca. 1950 (flyhis.dk)


Airspeed Oxford 21-236 and 21-211 on a visit to Air Base Avnø, in the late 1940s. Notice the old ATC tower in the rear.
(Photo: FLV Historiske Samling via draken.dk).


The newly introduced Chipmunks at Avnø in 1954, when the old ATC tower had already disappeared (chip-chaps.dk).

A visiting Harvard from Karup amongst Chipmunks at Avnø in 1954 (chip-chaps.dk).

After the Flight School had left the airfield in 1993, it stood abandoned for 10 years. In 1996 the Nature Protection Board had already decided that Avnø had to be preserved, but the agreement between the public authorities took a long time. After years of negotiations Avnø airfield was finally handed over by the Ministry of Defence to the Forest and Nature Agency on 28 February 2001. 
Since 2004 the area is open to the public after steps were taken to return the area to what it originally was, wet meadows with plenty of water and wading birds. Drainage pumps were stopped, allowing water levels to rise so waterfowl would have better opportunities. A nature conservation center was built in the former control tower and adjacent hangars, which exist to this day.
In 2008 a plan (in Danish) existed to convert the whole former airfield into an international terrorist prison camp, possibly to replace Guantanamo Bay.


3 RDAF F-35 Drakens perform a flyby over the airfield prior to its closure in 1993 (RDAF).


Avnø photographed in 2004 (albatros-ul.dk)


A walk on the field of Avnø Nature Center in April 2011 (udeskole.dk).


The former airfield, now called Avnø Nature Center in 2005 (Google Earth)


Several ponds in the former flying field of Avnø are visible in this 2011 photo (Google Earth)