World War II The site at Lade was traditionally farming land. During the late 19th century it was proposed used as a site for the
Norwegian College of Agriculture, but was instead located at
Ås Municipality in
Akershus county. Thus the area remained an agricultural area at the break-out of
World War II in 1940. A Norwegian
Simmonds Spartan school aircraft landed at the fields. Scheduled services to Trondheim started in 1937, when
Norwegian Air Lines (DNL) started seaplane services out of the port at
Ilsvika and the lake of
Jonsvannet. During the
German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, German pilot Feldwebel Nowak conducted an emergency landing with his
Junkers Ju 52 on the fields at Lade. He secured the area and later that day seven more aircraft landed in the fields. Trondheim was a strategically important city as it hosted both a shipyard and a submarine pen,
Dora 1, in addition to its strategic location for German aircraft to operate northwards as the
Norwegian Campaign continued in
Northern Norway.
Værnes Air Station was in such a condition that it was unsuitable for the large German aircraft, such as the
Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. Thus the
Luftwaffe chose to use both the fields at Lade and the ice on Jonsvannet while Værnes was being upgraded. At Lade there was built a wooden runway, a partially wooden and partially concrete taxiway and some hangars. Later the runway was later rebuilt to concrete. The taxiways were often first built in wood and the later rebuilt to concrete. As of 1943 Lade stationed the staff of IV/JG5 with their twelve
Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 aircraft and a detachment of 10/JG5 of five Bf 109G-6s. In an American attack of Dora on 24 July 1943, the winds caused the artificial smoke to cover Lade, but not Dora, allowing the Americans to see their target, but not allow the Germans to scramble their aircraft in defense. In 1944 and 1945 Lade was the base of staff for JG5 and IV/
Zerstörergeschwader 26, as well as
Messerschmitt Bf 110G from the latter. Transportgeschwader 5 had Ju 52s stationed at Lade during 1944.
Civilian operations With the
German capitulation on 8 May 1945, the airport at first taken by
Allied troops, who disarmed any German military equipment. The airport was subsequently taken over by Norwegian authorities. Trøndelag Flygeselskap A/S was established by Anders Estenstad, Kjell Lefstad, Ola Lefstad and Thor Gjedebo in 1946, receiving an initial share capital of 50,000
Norwegian krone (NOK). The airline bought three aircraft, two three-seat
Austers and a four-seat
Republic Seabee. It has based in two of the German-built hangars. The aviation activity caught on amongst the city population, resulting in two aviation clubs being established. Trondheim Flyklubb was founded in December 1947, while NTH Flyklubb was reanimated. Affiliated with the
Norwegian Institute of Technology, it had been established in 1934. specifically by removing the wooden sections of taxiway and runway. This was carried out as a volunteer service during the fall, which allowed the airport to be rated for commercial services. The two clubs organized an annual
air show, both to generate income and to raise the interest for aviation. Trøndelag Flygeselskap remained in business until 1950. A new airline, A/S Trønderfly, was established on 11 July 1950 and bought a single aircraft, serving the uncovered market in the surge of the first company's failure. Trønderfly bought only a single aircraft, which it chose not to insure. The company folded after it crashed the following year. Regular services to Oslo Airport, Fornebu commenced on 18 August 1953. The airline marketed itself with having a much more central airport than SAS, allowing for shorter travel times than those traveling via Værnes. The lack of a hard landing surface caused seasonal disruptions in operations and in rainy periods Braathens SAFE had to reroute its services to Værnes. As the aircraft also had to use
visual flight rules, during foggy weather it was also forced to land at Værnes. During the period that Braathens operated at Lade, it had the responsibility for local air traffic control. Braathens moved their Lade services to Værnes in 1956, as Lade was not able to accommodate their new, larger
Fokker F-27 Friendship aircraft. Part of the runway was demolished in 1964 and converted to football fields,
Lade Anlegget. This resulted in the runway being shortened to for 1965, which became the last year the airport was in operation. The runway and taxiways were thereafter demolished to make way for industry and shopping. Most of the hangars were demolished, although the main hangar remained. The aviation clubs moved to Værnes, which saw a reduction of activity. Longer distances, increased parking and hangar rental fees, the need for radio communication certificates all put their toil on recruitment and retaining members. The aviation club later moved its activities to Jonsvannet. With the closing of the airport, several locals took initiative to establish another airport closer to Trondheim.
Heimdal was proposed as a site which would be closer than Værnes, but nothing has ever come of the plans. ==Facilities==