Warszawa 2011-12-21
Bemowo-Babice-Boernerowo Airport, Warsaw.
Geographic coordinates: 52.268N 20.913E. Elevation 104 m.
Entry.
In the title, there are three names of the same airport, which at the beginning of its existence was located on the outskirts of Warsaw, and now the airport is within its borders. The area we are interested in is the north-western suburbs of Warsaw. This area served important military functions for several centuries. The inner and outer ring of fortifications, consisting of fortification buildings, ran here. Currently, it is a district of Warsaw called Bemowo.
There are three forts near the airport; Bema (Parysów), Fort Babice, Fort Wawrzyszew. They were all built at the end of the 19th century, and in 1909 they lost their functions. In the period 1924-1939, Fort Bema became the No. 1 ammunition factory for the Polish Army. During the occupation, the Germanic army set up military warehouses here. After 1945, the Polish Army returned here. At the end of the 1980s, Ford was handed over to the Legia Warszawa Military Sports Club. Fort II A Babice (Radiowo) – its buildings were used by the Transatlantic Radio Broadcasting Station in the period 1922-1945. Fort Wawrzyszew; When the defense functions were liquidated in 1909, it began to serve as a warehouse. The area between these forts served mainly as training grounds and as an exercise area. Artillerymen trained here, using live ammunition. The southern part is mostly sandy. However, the northern part is a wetland area. During the Great World War, the site of the current airport was used as a landing pad for Prussian and Russian planes.
In the Republic of Poland. 1918-1939 year.
After the Republic of Poland regained independence, the area was taken over by the reborn Polish Army. An ammunition factory was established in Fort Bema. A large area still served as a training ground. Artillerymen and sappers trained here. In the 30s, barracks were built in the Boernerowo area, where until September 1939, units of the 1st Motorized Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment were quartered. During the occupation, the Germanic army located here, among other things, car repair shops. These are the areas currently occupied by the Military University of Technology.
Military Research Facility. 1918 year.
The Aerial Navigation Section was created on November 28, 1918, at the Ministry of Military Affairs. Within the Section, on December 20, 1918, the beginning of a research and technical facility was established under the name of the Scientific and Technical Department, soon renamed the Faculty. The first seat of the Faculty was the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Due to the fact that Bemowo was a military area at that time, a large part of the flight tests of aircraft operated in Poland were carried out here. Mainly in the field of aerial shooting, which could not be carried out in Mokotów.
The expansion of technical tasks resulted in the fact that, pursuant to the organizational order of the First Department of the General Staff of November 11, 1921, the Scientific and Technical Department was transformed into the Military Aviation Research Center (WCBL). The main tasks of WCBL included testing aviation equipment, collecting aircraft from the factory and technical supervision of production. The technical progress taking place in aviation meant that the existing organizational structures of WCBL turned out to be insufficient, hence on August 1, 1926, WCBL was transformed into the Institute of Aviation Technical Research (IBTL). The scope of tasks performed was expanded, with particular emphasis placed on the expansion of the airframe and engine station equipment. The second very important task of IBTL was participation in the development of a program for the development of aviation technology and the aviation industry in Poland. 10 years since the establishment of IBTL on August 1, 1936, by order of the General Command Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs. IBTL was renamed the Institute of Aviation Technology (ITL). The new name of the Institute also means a new organizational structure. One of the most important tasks of ITL was the examination of prototypes of aviation equipment. This required the development of aircraft construction regulations, creation of technical conditions for aircraft and engines in cooperation with the aviation industry, opinions on designs and calculations, control of static tests, and finally prototype tests, including airworthiness and operational tests along with tests of equipment and weapons installed on aircraft. The most tangible results of the Institute’s work are flight tests.
History of Bemowo Airport.
The location of the airport itself, just 10 km from the center of the Capital, may seem inappropriate. Let us remember, however, that in the second half of the 40 years, the first turbojet-powered fighter planes had a very short range. Therefore, it was logical to place defense units near the defended facilities. In Poland, a similar approach was taken in Kraków (Czyżyny-Rakowice Airport) and Poznań (Ławica Airport).
But not only the Polish Army was stationed in Bemowo. Here was the entire center of Soviet troops supporting the consolidation of communist power in the Polish People’s Republic.
For this purpose, it needed its own airport. It functioned as a makeshift landing field since 1945. It is difficult to indicate the date of establishment of Bemowo Airport. The airport provided air connectivity with Moscow, independent of Okęcie Airport. The Soviets did not have the habit of notifying the Polish Army, whose units controlled Polish airspace, of their intention to perform a flight. Already in 1947, the first paved runway was built. The airport was built on the so-called Szwedzkie Górki, between the Bema fort and Boernerowo, at that time outside the administrative boundaries of the City of Warsaw. Administratively, it was the area of the Blizne Commune, whose office was located in Stare Babice. That is why the airport is also called Babice Airport. Since 1945, a large area of today’s Bemowo has been secret. Bystanders had their IDs. The lack of a uniform or the company of a uniformed person meant trouble. It was an area closed to civilians. The roads to Bemowo were marked with signs, "Road without crossing", and ended with gates and barriers that could only be crossed with a pass. Soviet soldiers felt here like in Legnica, that is, like at home. They had their own canteens, canteens and shops.
Several artillery batteries (anti-aircraft defense) were placed around the airport. A new railway siding was added to the facilities.
The airport had two concrete runways: 5/23, measuring 2,000 m x 80 m, and 10/28, measuring 2,500 m x 90 m. The runways intersected. Several hangars were built. A large fuel base was built. The construction of Bemowo Airport lasted several years and was carried out on a grand scale, according to Soviet plans. Germanic prisoners of war took part in the construction, brought to the construction site from the nearby camp in Groty. The airport was officially put into operation in January 1951. However, the airport’s infrastructure was unfinished. Soviet transport planes predominated at the airport. They regularly transported soldiers, equipment and other goods including; communist newspapers and special mail.
The airport was intended as the main base for the 5th Fighter Aviation Division of the Polish Army, which was the beginning of the anti-aircraft defense system being created for Warsaw. The command and staff of the 5th DLM and the 1st Fighter Aviation Regiment from Modlin were moved to the Airport. At that time, the commander of the 5th DLM was Soviet General Grigory Pyatakov, and the commander of the 1st MPL was also the Soviet lieutenant colonel pilot Alexander Bystrov. At that time, the relatively new piston-engine Yak-9 P and several older school Yak-9 W units, which remembered World War II, were in operation.
In 1951, the Soviets established a school at the airport to train pilots from piston machines to turbojet fighters. (Until now, pilots flying planes with turbojet engines were trained in Brzeg Opolski, in a Soviet unit, and they were usually CCCP citizens).
W kwietniu 1951 roku, dostarczono do Polski, na Lotnisko Bemowo, pierwsze 3 szkolno-treningowe maszyny Jak-17 W. Samoloty te, podobnie jak Jak-17 przybyły do Polski (Lotnisko Radom) w skrzyniach drogą kolejową. Nie były to jednak maszyny nowe. Samoloty zmontowano w hangarze Nr. 3. Maszyny te wyprodukowano w 1948 roku i eksploatowano w jednostce sowieckiej. Ich numery (seryjne / burtowe); 3120008 / 4, 3120127 / 7, 3120145 / … Znalazły się na wyposażeniu 1. MPL.
A little earlier, in December 1950, the borders of CCCP-Poland were crossed by rail transport with the first Jak-23 planes, intended for Polish Aviation. It was later than in other democrat countries, which showed a lack of trust in the "brother nation". The Yak-23 is the plane that opened the era of jet aircraft in Polish aviation. Without the defects of its predecessor (Yak-17), it was a much more mature design. But in these years, the progress in the field of power units and aerodynamics was so great that it is impossible to talk about the career of this structure. In world aviation it was just an episode. But not for our air force.
As planned, on January 6, 1951, the first transport was delivered to the railway siding of Bemowo Airport. There were several dozen crates on the platforms. The cargo was placed in hangar No. 3. This facility was additionally fenced and guarded. One box held one complete plane, disassembled. The aircraft were assembled by Soviet and Polish mechanics and pilots. The Soviets performed flights and trained Polish pilots. In February 1951, subsequent Yak-23 units were assembled, flown and prepared for transfer to the 1st MPL (fighter air regiment).
Following the new planes, four pilots trained in CCCP arrived at the Bemowo Airport. They were instructor pilots; Major Sapiecha, Lt. Łokhov, Lt. Mareshkin, Lt. Wołkowski. The task of the arriving instructors was to train the first Polish pilots who had already undergone initial training on jets (turbojet aircraft), who, in turn, were to create a cadre of future instructors.
Because it was realized that there would be too few pilots, in February 1951, a second group of pilots and technicians was selected to be trained on the Yak-17 W training courses at the Soviet 156th PLM in Brzeg Opolski in the country. The group consisted of 12 (15) pilots and several technicians. They were among them; Lt. Col. (Capt.) Wasyl Gaszyn, Capt. Stanisław Więcek, Capt. M. Bajczykow, Capt. Tadeusz Krępski, Capt. Eugeniusz Pniewski, Capt. Stanisław Tanana, 2nd Lt. Wiktor Iwoń, 2nd Lt. Bolesław Smolik, 2nd Lt. Andrzej Dobrzaniecki, 2nd Lt. (capt) Stefan Płoszański, second lieutenant Władysław Hermaszewski (brother of the Polish cosmonaut), captain Mieczysław Goworek.
The pilots were initially trained on the Yak-17 W (UTI) and performed approximately 15 flights in a total time of approximately three hours. Then they switched to Yak-23 planes and achieved a flight time of about 7 hours. In April 1951, they returned to Bemowo Airport with instructor qualifications.
March 20, 1951 was a very important day for the 1st PLM, because in the order read that day, the regiment moved from training on piston aircraft to training on jet aircraft (turbojet). During this period, the regiment had 16 Jak-23, 3 Jak-11, 6 Jak-9 P, 1 Jak-9 W, 3 Po-2, and already in April 1951, the condition was as follows; 30 new Yak-23 and 3 used Yak-17 W.
On June 22, 1951, the first air accident of the Yak-23 aircraft No. 813/13 occurred. During a training flight, the engine of the aircraft piloted by Warrant Officer Feliks Nadowski died. The pilot decided to make an emergency landing with the landing gear retracted in an unfavorable area. After landing, the pilot was pulled out of the cabin by people working in the field. The pilot suffered spinal damage and the plane was repaired.
At the beginning of April 1951, the formation of the 7th DLM (fighter aviation division) began in Krakow, by order of the Ministry of National Defense No. 0036/org. The commander was a Polish officer, former head of the Security Service in Warsaw and Krakow, Lieutenant Colonel pilot Jan Frey-Bielecki. The basic unit became the 2nd MPL stationed in Czyżyny (Kraków). This regiment became the nucleus of subsequent jet fighter aviation units.
Meanwhile, the entire 2nd MPL was transferred to Bemowo Airport for training. The first classes with the new equipment were conducted on May 2, 1951. The training was conducted in Hangar No. 3, access to which was only possible upon presentation of a special pass. Both regiments (1st MPL, 2nd MPL) trained together. The entire staff also took part in the assembly of subsequent new Yak-23 aircraft.
The pilots of the 2nd MPL received one Yak-17 W aircraft no. 3120145 from the 1st MPL unit. They made their first flights on May 9, 1951, under the supervision of a Soviet officer, Major Markov.
In mid-May 1951, the Muscovites delivered the fourth copy of the Jak-17 W aircraft, No. 3120124, to Warsaw, and the pilots of the 2nd MPL began flying it. During the Aviation Festival in 1951, Yak-17 W planes took part in demonstrations, flying in formation next to Yak-23 fighters.
At the beginning of August 1951, as planned, and precisely under DWL order No. 064/org, the formation of the third jet fighter unit, the 13th PLM (MPL), began, while the name was changed to Fighter Aviation Regiments. Pilot Major Stanisław Więcek became the commander of the 13th PLM, and the squadron commanders were; Capt. Pilot Kazimierz Tanana, Lt. Pilot Wiktor Iwonia, Lt. Pilot Bolesław Smolik. The 13th PLM was initially stationed in Warsaw (Bemowo Airport), and then was moved to Łęczyca.On August 18, 1951, the 13th Regiment received one Jak-17 W aircraft No. 31200008 from the Warsaw regiment, and a few weeks later a second Jak-17 W No. 3120127, as the 1st PLM switched entirely to MiG-15 and UTI MiG-planes. 15.
In September 1951, the 1st PLM, as the first combat unit equipped with Yak-23 fighter aircraft, became combat ready. Thanks to this, the Yak-23 became the first commercial turbojet aircraft in Poland.
The entire contract for the supply of Yak-23 fighters has not yet been completed, and in July 1951, deliveries of MiG-15 fighters began. The reason was the development of events during the Korean War. The threat of the outbreak of World War III was very real. The MiG-15 aircraft proved its worth in warfare and was technically superior to the Yak-23 aircraft.
But events moved very quickly. While the 1st PLM in Bemowo was preparing for the first parade on July 22, during which the Yak-23 fighters were to be demonstrated for the first time, on July 19, 1951, the newest MiG-15 fighters landed. These were 5 machines brought by Soviet pilots based at one of the airports near Berlin, in the GDR. The planes brought had numbers; 0227, 0231, 0234, 0236, 0249 and were produced in 1949.
Soon, the first 4 MiG-15 UTI trainers appeared at the Bemowo Airport. They probably arrived in Poland on July 30, 1951, and their numbers are; 104-11, 104-23, 104-24, 104-24.
According to the decision of the command of the 5th DLM, which included the 1st PLM, it was to take over all MiG-15 fighters delivered to Poland. On November 1, 1951, the 1st PLM already had 30 MiG-15 aircraft.
The 13th PLM also began to receive MiG-15 aircraft, which temporarily had Yak-23 fighters. In December 1951, the 5th DLM, with the 1st PLM and 13th PLM, was already equipped with 60 MiG-15 and 4 MiG-15 UTI planes, which were distributed proportionally between both regiments.
In 1952, only the 1st PLM was stationed at the Bemowo Airport. More and more new pilots came here for training on MiG-15 aircraft.
In Mielec, in mid-1952, serial production of license MiG-15 aircraft was launched, under the name Lim-1 (Licensed Fighter). The first batch consisted of 6 units and was made of parts delivered from CCCP. It was built as part of crew training. The planes received factory numbers from 1A 01-001 to 1A 01-006. In September 1952, these planes were handed over to the army and delivered to the Bemowo Airport. Here, a series of flight tests were performed on them to detect any errors and to introduce some modifications. Subsequent Lim-1s were already delivered to other air units.
At the end of 1952, the 1st PLM had a full fleet of 36 MiG-15 / Lim-1 and 2 UTI MiG-15 units.
In the second half of 1955, the first batch of 12 MiG-17 PF fighters was delivered to Poland. These planes had on-board radar sights that ensured the interception of targets in all weather conditions. A group of selected pilots went to CCCP to train for the new MiG-17 PF aircraft. This group included pilots; captain Czajka, Lt. R Operacz, Lt. S Radziejowski, Lt. S Nyc. The training took place in Lipetsk and Taganrog. After returning to the country, the 21st Independent Fighter Squadron was created at the Bemowo Airport using these pilots and MiG-17 PF aircraft as part of the Warsaw Pact. The interception unit operated at 1. PLM Warszawa. Capt. was appointed commander. Chaika. The 21st Independent Fighter Squadron was incorporated into the structures of the 1st PLM in 1957.
In July 1957, the 1st PLM was transferred to the airport in Janów near Mińsk Mazowiecki. This is how the era of combat air regiments ended at Bemowo Airport.
Other aviation units at Bemowo Airport.
Transport and Liaison Aviation Squadron of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
103rd Aviation Regiment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
103rd Aviation Regiment (JW 1159) – Warszawa-Bemowo and Bielany (Wrzeciono, ul. Marymoncka). Bemowo Airport, like no other airport in the country, was and is strongly associated with broadly understood internal public order. Aviation units subordinated to the public administration were and are stationed here. From the very beginning, an aviation unit subordinated to the Internal Security Corps was based here. This unit had Li-2 and Po-2 transport aircraft. In 1950, it adopted the first Il-12 aircraft.
It began with an air communications unit reporting to the Internal Security Corps (KBW), which in turn reported to the Minister of Public Security (1945 – 1954) and then to the Minister of Internal Affairs. Their main task was to liquidate the Polish independence underground. KBW became internal troops. The basis for the formation of KBW was the Independent Assault Battalion, formed on October 18, 1943, which on March 21, 1944 was transformed into the Polish Independent Special Battalion, which in turn was transformed into the Internal Troops Brigade. The brigade was constantly expanded and diversified. Each year, the number of tasks increased, and all of them were subordinated to ensuring internal order necessary to implement the decisions of the people’s power apparatus. The first experience (also by air) was the rigged people’s referendum of 1946, and then the rigged elections to the Sejm in 1947. During this period, desertions of entire organized subunits from the ranks of the newly established Internal Troops were common, in connection with the police and order tasks assigned to the soldiers. The crux of the matter was subordination not to the military command, but directly to the PZPR power apparatus.
One of the tasks of KBW was protection, supply and convoy, carried out in major industrial facilities, prisoner of war camps, camps for internment of political opponents, isolation and labor camps. The forced collection of food quotas in the countryside was protected. Other tasks include; control of population movement, creation of checkpoints at city outskirts and railway stations, demining, combating the effects of natural disasters (fires and floods). Other tasks resulting from the immediate need to maintain control of power, e.g. pacifying striking and protesting employees. KBW units were active during the Poznań June 1956. The structures of KBW, UB, MO, ZOMO and ORMO were very closely connected and interpenetrated.
At the beginning of the 60th century, KBW had over 60 military-type organizational units (engineering, sapper, automotive, armored, aviation, bridge and pontoon, security, communications, firefighting). It had its own training centers and training grounds.
In the mid-1960s, the Vistula Military Units were established, which took over the KBW units. But the reader would be mistaken that KBW has disappeared. The arrangement was as illustrated in the example below; The unit became a typical military motor unit, subordinate to the command of the land forces. Soldiers wore green caps. But when martial law was introduced (December 13, 1981), the unit became a KBW unit, and the soldiers were ordered to put on navy blue collars (the distinguishing feature of internal troops) and were sent on car and foot patrols to cities, often with live ammunition. In the 1980s, the main burden of maintaining power rested on the ZOMO and Militia units, which had loyal communists in their ranks. A horse in a row for those who understand the twists and turns in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Poland after 1989; The Security Service of the Ministry of the Interior, the State Protection Office, the Internal Security Agency, the Military Information Services, the Government Protection Bureau, the Moscow agent network, party-business-gangster connections and God knows what else. This is the result of the lack of vetting and decommunization. The President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Wałęsa, led the Soviet army out of Poland, but did not eliminate the Soviet spy network.
We wrote about it to make the reader aware of how important the Bemowo Airport was for the implementation of all these tasks. Permanent and ad hoc tasks. Requiring the use of planes and helicopters. Currently, it is difficult to determine which planes and helicopters were permanently based at Bemowo Airport as part of the Transport and Liaison Aviation Squadron of the Ministry of the Interior, and later the 103rd Aviation Regiment. One of the problems was the replacement of equipment from the 36th SPLT from Okęcie, as well as from other air units scattered around the country.
Certainly, the first Mi-1 helicopters imported to Poland, and then Mi-4, were based at Bemowo Airport. It is well known that helicopters were used in a militia task in 1965, when two Mi-4 and two SM-1 helicopters of the Transport and Liaison Aviation Squadron of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were launched for the first time in order to search for criminals who had escaped from the prison in Krosno. Regardless of the search, leaflets with police messages were scattered along the probable escape route of the convicts.
Around 1965, the Transport and Liaison Aviation Squadron of the Ministry of the Interior was transformed into the 103rd Aviation Regiment of the Vistula Military Units of the Ministry of the Interior. The regiment was equipped with, among others, Mi-2 helicopters. The number of tasks performed for the Ministry of Internal Affairs increased. At that time, no distinction was made between militia and internal tasks.
Many remember how in the 1970s the famous "Peace Race" cycling race was broadcast live from the Mi-2 helicopter. However, few people know that the creation of this type of military helicopter was born with the aim of aerial reconnaissance of the enemy. Initially using a film camera, and then via online transmission to the command point. The communist authorities quickly noticed the possibility of using this technique to pacify strikes, riots, marches and similar "hostile" actions. The coverage of the "Peace Race" was only an episode, much to the delight of the crowd.
Since 1977, the 103rd Aviation Regiment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has taken over Mi-8 helicopters. There were 21 copies of them, almost all of them in the Mi-8 T version. In 1989, the 103rd Aviation Regiment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs took over four Mi-17 helicopters. Until 1995, the 103rd Aviation Regiment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs independently secured all aviation activities in the ministry, also performing full police tasks. In 1995, local Police aviation centers began to be established in Kraków and Poznań. In 2000, the 103rd Aviation Regiment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was disbanded. Its equipment was distributed to land forces and police units, which took over as many as 11 machines. Police aviation officially inaugurated its operations on May 9, 2001. Bemowo Airport remains the seat of the Aviation Department of ZL KGP in Warsaw. Here they are permanently based; 3 Mi-8 helicopters, two W-3 Sokół helicopters and one Bell-206.
Further history of Bemowo airport.
When the first Soviet turbojet-powered passenger plane, the Tu-104, took off, there was no end to admiration throughout the Eastern Bloc. The machine was based on the already introduced Tu-16 bomber and had good flight characteristics. Unfortunately, it was much worse on the ground during landing and take-off. In March 1956, the first three Tu-104 machines were demonstrated for the first time abroad, at London’s Heathrow Airport. It was during the visit of the highest CCCP authorities to the UK. Importantly, the Soviet delegation, headed by Khrushchev, sailed to London aboard a warship. Simply put, the designer Tupolev was afraid of a possible disaster of the not fully tested planes. When the Tu-104 plane wanted to be shown in Poland, in Warsaw it had to arrive without passengers (load) and land using two drogue parachutes (It was the same in London).
On July 24, 1956, a Tu-104 plane landed at Bemowo Airport and it was the first turbojet-powered passenger plane to come to Poland. In addition to the crew, there was a small group of OKB Tupolev office employees on board the plane. Over three days, the plane was seen by 100,000 Warsaw residents, i.e. every tenth resident of Warsaw. The departure took place on July 27, 1956, also without any major load. Our specialists immediately realized that this was not a plane for our carrier PLL LOT. We will not extend the RWA period for him. To save the situation, OKB Tupolev developed a Tu-124 with a shortened fuselage and lighter in weight, which could take only 40 passengers. This machine could easily fit into a typical RWY. For propaganda purposes, the Tu-124 was still designated as the Tu-104 and it mainly carried passengers. This modification coincided with the Tu-104 disaster that occurred in 1959. The plane suddenly, as if hit from below, entered a sharp climb. There was a stall and the plane fell to the ground from an altitude of 9,000 m. The remains of the machine and all the victims were scattered within a radius of 2,000 m. The cause has not been explained. Of course, officially, the crew was to blame.
In 1959, a Boeing B 707 plane carrying US Vice President Richard Nixon landed at Bemowo Airport. Charles de Gaulle landed at Bemowo Airport in September 1967, arriving by Caravelle plane.
The Polish Army withdrew from the area of Bemowo Airport in stages, since the beginning of the 70s, and its place was taken by housing estates. Only the lane leading towards the "garbage mountain" remained. It was only in the 1980s that the army transferred some of the land to the city for residential development. Since this period, there has been an open conflict of interests between the airport managers and the city authorities.
Continued in the next section.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman