Kjeller airfield, the first and oldest airfield in Norway, and one of the older ones in continual service around the world, is being closed and the area is going to be turned into housing and industry.
It was started in 1912. During WWII it was taken over by the Germans by a couple of dudes in motorcycle and sidecar and used to repair German planes. It was bombed by the Allies twice, leaving craters all over town my father would later play in. Since then it was mostly a military base with a small but dedicated community of hobby pilots that shared the runway. I'm pretty sure they worked closely with one of the local high schools, literally a stone's throw away, that has aviation maintenance as one of its courses.
I live just ten minutes or so away and drive past it regularly.
I never paid much attention to it, it was just a feature of the environment, but now I'm oddly affected by the news. Just showing my age, I guess, seeing everything I was used to for so many years disappearing.
