NEWS ARCHIVE

Forest fires in the Sauerland:

Arnsberg Menden Airfield (FAM) ensures rapid refueling of firefighting helicopters and pipeline aircraft

By ANDREAS DUNKER

ARNSBERG / MENDEN. (July 21, 2022) Arnsberg-Menden Airfield (FAM) was an important base for fighting the forest fires in South Westphalia this week. This is because the firefighting helicopters of the federal and state police were supplied with fuel several times at the filling station of the public main airfield on the northern edge of the Sauerland region so that they could return to their areas of operation as quickly as possible to fight the fires. This meant that the helicopters did not have to fly to their more distant locations in Sankt Augustin, Dortmund or Düsseldorf to refuel.

At the same time, the so-called “pipeline pilots” made a stop at the FAM to keep an eye on possible dangers to long-distance gas and high-voltage lines during the wildfires. – Ground attendant Ralf Schulte had his hands full at the fuel pump at the airfield in Vosswinkel, supplying the rotorcraft arriving almost every hour with several hundred liters of “Jet A 1” kerosene, which is not usually available at smaller runways.

“The police helicopters with their large water tanks made a significant contribution to quickly bringing the forest fire under control. We are glad that the nearby Ruhrverband Sorpe dam was available for refueling with extinguishing water and that the helicopters were also repeatedly supplied with fuel promptly at Arnsberg Menden airfield. Thanks to the short distances for refueling with extinguishing water and fuel, the helicopters were available to us for more rotations for effective firefighting,” explained press spokesman Jürgen Voss from the operational staff of the volunteer fire department of the city of Sundern on Thursday (July 21, 2022). The forest fire had spread over an area of around 115,000 square meters in the Sundern district of Stemel. Around 600 volunteer firefighters as well as helpers from the German Red Cross (DRK), the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) and police officers were deployed there. The air squadrons of the federal and state police provided important administrative assistance.

The state police were deployed with two of their six AIRBUS H145 helicopters and fire extinguishing containers with a capacity of up to 800 liters. Since 2020, the North Rhine-Westphalian police aviation squadron, which is based at the airports in Düsseldorf and Dortmund, has also been involved in firefighting from the air to support firefighting teams on the ground.

The federal police from Sankt Augustin also relieved the fire department with an even larger rotorcraft. The AS 332 L1 (Super Puma) helicopter used hoisted a so-called “Bambi Bucket” with up to 2,000 liters of water from the nearby Sorpe dam into the air to pour the water over the burning forest a few minutes later.

However, the police helicopters did not only provide air support in the Hochsauerland district this week. In the neighboring Märkisch district, a helicopter from the state police also provided valuable assistance with its fire extinguishing container at another forest fire on the Hegenscheid near Altena. There, the airmen scooped the extinguishing water out of the Lenne. At its peak, more than 450 firefighters were involved in this wildfire, which covered an estimated 100,000 square meters.

But it wasn’t just the helicopters’ water tanks that were useful in fighting the fire. The bird’s eye view and the images from the thermal imaging cameras were also very helpful in coordinating the extinguishing measures. In total, the three helicopters dropped tens of thousands of liters of extinguishing water over the hard-to-reach fire areas.

In this context, the Menden-based “OBO Bettermann” group of companies, which operates the Arnsberg Menden airfield (FAM), referred to the general importance of its modern commercial airfield in Vosswinkel for the aviation infrastructure in North Rhine-Westphalia. The airfield not only serves business air traffic in the region, but is also an important service station for police and rescue helicopters as well as airline pilots with its refueling station and hangar. According to a spokesperson, the operator and staff are pleased that they have been able to provide some help in this “highly dramatic situation” (quote from Jürgen Voss).

© AD Medien GmbH

Art in public space

Stag weighing several tons at Arnsberg Menden airfield since 07.07.2022

Newspaper article
From Andreas Dunker

ARNSBERG-VOSSWINKEL / MENDEN. “The stag is the new eye-catcher,” says art patron Ulrich L. Bettermann. This week, the successful Menden entrepreneur, passionate pilot and keen hunter had a monumental bronze sculpture erected on the meadow between the terrace of the “JU 52” café and restaurant and the large children’s playground next to it.

Until now, the yellow and red climbing frame with slide in the shape of a single-engine low-wing aircraft has been the eye-catcher at Arnsberg Menden Airfield (FAM) in Vosswinkel. The popular play equipment is sure to remain a favorite for children. However, lovers of modern contemporary art will probably turn their attention to the striking sculpture in future.

The work, which is around four meters high and weighs around 1.6 tons, was created by the world-renowned sculptor Professor Chenggang Zeng. Born in Pingyang, China in 1960, the artist has been teaching as a professor at the Academy of Art and Design at Tsinghua University in Beijing since 2000. His monumental works have been exhibited internationally.

The larger-than-life deer sculpture was created by Chenggang Zeng in 2006.

The abstract monument then came from China to Europe and was recently acquired by Ulrich L. Bettermann from a collector in Switzerland.

He hopes that the bronze sculpture will become a landmark at Arnsberg Menden Airfield (FAM).

Incidentally, a mobile 30-ton hydraulic crane and the loading crane of the truck that transported the statue from Switzerland to Sauerland were needed to erect the colossus on Thursday morning.

Now the figure is enthroned directly on the meadow at the main building of Arnsberg Menden airfield (FAM) with a view of the terrace of the “JU 52” excursion restaurant.

A 1.6 by 3 meter concrete slab provides the necessary stability. Incidentally, a structural engineer was consulted specifically for this purpose.

© AD Medien GmbH

Arnsberg Menden airfield (FAM) opened runway for runners on 24.03.2022

“Run for Peace” on the runway

Runners instead of aircraft on the runway: a charity event under the motto “Run for Peace” took place on the grounds of Arnsberg Menden airfield on Thursday evening. Around 50 runners, joggers, walkers and strollers took part in the run across the runway and taxiways of the airfield on the northern edge of the Sauerland region. According to initiator and organizer Claudia Simon from Alt-Arnsberg, a total of well over 500 euros was donated by participants to the “Virtualrunners” charity for Ukraine. The self-employed running and triathlon trainer had motivated participants from her group at the Arnsberg gymnastics club and her own group “ONE TWO TRI” to take part in the charity run. There were also around a dozen participants from the staff of the airfield and the local aviation technology company (LTB). LTB Managing Director Carsten Sattler, together with FAM Division Manager Ingo Reinert and FAM Operations Manager Fabian Schnatmann, had ensured that the airfield’s asphalt runway remained closed to air traffic from 7 p.m. and was available to the runners as a special location for their solidarity campaign with Ukraine and the charity run over laps of around two kilometers each. As is well known, the Arnsberg airfield belongs to the “OBO Bettermann” group of companies in Menden and serves as a public airfield for business air traffic in South Westphalia, among other things.

© AD Medien GmbH

Arnsberg-Menden Airfield (FAM) in Vosswinkel has had a five-metre wider and newly asphalted runway since 1 December 2020. For the major construction project, the small airfield on the northern edge of the Sauerland region was completely closed to flight operations between November 16 and 29, 2020. Only helicopters were allowed to take off and land on the site by prior arrangement with the air traffic control tower.

In 2017, the original 920-metre-long runway had already been extended by 135 meters in a north-easterly direction and two stop and rollover areas of 60 meters each were added at the beginning and end of the runway. The total length of the runway is now 1.175 kilometers and 25 meters wide. In total, Flugplatzgesellschaft Arnsberg-Menden mbH, the private operator of the publicly accessible airfield, has invested well over 1 million euros in the safety and future of the regionally important air traffic facility within just a few years. Even after its 50th anniversary, the airfield on the Westerberg in Vosswinkel, which was opened in 1970, now presents itself in a contemporary ambience.