Rodez - Onet-le-Château

Validation date: 13 09 2014
Updated on: Never
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44°22'54"N 002°31'28"E
 
Runway: 10/28 - 765x70m - grass (approx.)
Runway: 16/34 - 550x70m - grass (approx.)
 
Rodez - Onet-le-Château airfield (Aérodrome communal de Rodez - Onet-le-Château, also known as Aveyron airfield) was an airfield 500 kilometer south of Paris.
It appeared for the first time in the Bulletin of Air Navigation in June 1939 as a municipal aerodrome with a grass flying field of 600x600m.
A February 1946 report on the airfield by the Directorate of Air Engineers Air indicated that the airport, located west of the town of Onet-le-Château had been built by the city of Rodez in 1936 and did not include any runways or specially arranged flight strip.



The airfield had no runways established in this 1948 photo. Visible are filled-in trenches that were made during the war, likely by German troops fearing the airfield might be used by the Allies (geoportail.fr).

On 22 November 1946, by decision of the post-war Ministry for Weaponry-Army-Public Works and Transport, the airfield was assigned primarily to air transport and secondarily to recreational aviation and gliding.

 

 

By order of 6 February 1947, Rodez - Onet-le-Château wass listed among public aerodromes open to all light aircraft.



In 1964 the airfield had two tracks, delimitted by concrete markings (geoportail.fr).

 

 

By the early 1960s, the airfield had become too close to the outskirts of Rodez, hindering expansion of the airfield. Therefore the decision was made in 1965 to build a new airfield further from town. 

 

 

Onet-le-Château airfield disappeared on 16 April 1971, when the new airfield Rodez - Marcillac opened with the simultaneous closure of Rodez - Onet-le-Chateau.



The new airport of Rodez Marcillac (yellow circle) was opened a year befor this photo was taken in 1972. The old Onet-le-
Château in the red circle. (geoportail.fr).


Onet-le-Château in 1978. Although the airfield closed 7 years prior, the runway markers are still visible, although tennis courts have appeared on the 10/28 runway (geoportail.fr).


Although a sports complex was built on the former airfield, the runways were still reconizable in this 2014 photo (Google Earth).


Ground view of the sports complex in 2014 (Google Street View).

(Researched by Olivier)