Khodynka Field

The Chodynkafeld (Russian Ходынское поле, Chodynskoje pole ) is a historic town located north-west of Moscow city center, directly south of the main road " Leningrad Prospekt ". The now partially cultivated acreage served in its history, including as military grounds, but also as Moscow's first passenger airport.

History

Under his name known to date, which is in turn inspired by the here and now once running mostly underground river led Khodynka, the Chodynkafeld was mentioned in 1389 in a document of the Moscow Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy. There was the field Khodynka meadow. At that time and until the 18th century, the area was mainly agricultural until the mid-19th century it was outside the Moscow city limits. In July 1609 - the middle of the so-called Time of Troubles - was the scene of fighting between Chodynkafeld the troops of Tsar Vasily IV ( Schuiski ) and the impostor False Dmitry II.

After the field was no longer used as an agricultural area, where among other things, military training grounds, barracks and military camps were created. In addition, we held there occasionally larger exhibitions and festivals. Among the best known such events on the Chodynkafeld counts the 1775 carried out celebration of the peace of Küçük Kaynarca with which the Russian - Turkish war of 1768-1774 was completed. At this festival then was attended by around 60,000 people. In May 1896, the Chodynkafeld was the scene of several hundred thousand visitors particularly large folk festival on the occasion of the coronation of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II This popular festival ended in disaster, the so-called Khodynka tragedy. With a mass panic that the during the edition occurred gifts, came in 1389 people were killed.

From the beginning of the 20th century, the field has been increasingly by domestic flight pioneers and test pilots ( including Pyotr Nesterov, later Valeri Chkalov ) used as a test site. 1910, the first Moscow airfield was established on a large part of the field, which was designed by the year 1922 a passenger airport and since then both Russian domestic and international flights ( such as Moscow - Kaliningrad - Berlin) handling services. The aircraft designer Alexander Yakovlev worked here. Until the construction of the airport Bykowo in the Moscow region in 1933, the airport was on the Chodynkafeld the only one in Moscow. He gave the lying north and along the Leningrad prospectus residential area as well as the nearby metro station opened in 1938 the name Aeroport (literally " Airport ").

With the commissioning of several new airports in the Moscow region - including the airport Vnukovo in 1941 - eased the importance of Khodynka aerodrome for passenger traffic. He has been increasingly used as a feeder airport: Passengers at other airports could check there and were initially, and later transported by helicopter with buses to their respective machine. The passenger terminal (known as Aerowoksal, ie literally "Aero Station " ) served in the north of Chodynkafeldes until well into the 1990s as a bus station.

In the postwar period the use of the Chodynkafeldes was abandoned as a civilian airport. The existing airstrip was taken over by the Soviet military and served since then as a military airfield, which was named after the revolutionary Mikhail Frunze. In the vicinity of the airfield several known experimental design offices for aerospace engineering settled ( among others Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Yakovlev, MiG ). In addition to military aircraft and helicopters started on the Chodynkafeld also test flights of passenger aircraft.

Current usage

2003, the Frunze Military airfield was shut down parts of the airfield were now "Mega Sport Arena " built with new apartment blocks and other objects such as the multi-function hall, opened in 2006. On the southern edge of the site the headquarters of the military intelligence GRU is.

Of the original equipment today only the former runway is obtained, which is used as a training route for motorists and motorcyclists, are also larger arable land around the runways are still broke. The plan is the construction of additional residential district on the former airfield. 1991 Aviation Museum was opened, which was, however, also closed with the closure of the place due to lack of funding. The exhibited military aircraft, including rare prototypes of the former place -based design office, are already, as far as they could be adopted by other museums not, along the former runway and are currently in effect abandoned to decay and vandalism.

Prior to the military parades on Victory Day, held each year on May 9 at the Red Square, the former airfield serves as a gathering place for the military equipment used there. On the day of the parade as well as the samples, the technique is then transported from the Chodynkafeld close to extending the Leningrad prospectus and from there on Tverskaya Street in the city center.

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