Rinkaby

55°58'55"N 014°17'46"E

runway: 18/36 - 670x25m - surface (CLOSED)
runway: 12/30 - 670x25m - surface (CLOSED)
runway: 05/23 - 670x25m - surface (CLOSED)

Air field Rinkaby was an airfield just outside Gälltofta, 90km northeast of Malmö in Sweden.
In the 1920s it was used as an emergency drill training area. From 1926 it was also used as a fighter and reconnaissance training field. Back then the aircraft and personnel all stayed in tents. 
The definitive airfield was built during World War II as a military airfield to defend Swedens neutrality. It consisted of 3 hardened runways in a triangular shape and three hangars. The airbase became home to F10 Bulltofta flying J20 (Caproni-Reggiane Re.2000 Falco) fighters. In addition it was used for training of new pilots of F5 Ljungbyhed. 19 foreign aircraft diverted for emergency landings at the airfield during the war.


Impounded RAF Lancasters (and a Mosquito behind them) at the airfield during World War II.

After 1945 the airfield was only used for training purposes. Its barracks were used to detain about 2700 German prisoners of war. In 1973 the airfield seized to exist as such, when it became a training ground for army tanks. The old runways remained in use for the training of air force runway repair teams. In April 2010 the former airfield was 'rediscovered' when a blogger published photos of derelict Saab35 fighters and a Saab105 trainer at the former airfield.


Aerial view of Rinkaby in 2007