In 1947 they started building a recreational airport at Hrabětice meadows (Hrabětické louky). Enthusiasts from local flying clubs cut down trees, cleared away rocks and the ruins of abandoned houses, and installed a winch for starting motorless gliders.
Later they built a brick hangar and even planned to have the airport certified for motor flying. A number of obstacles in the area and the unstable mountain weather led to several accidents, however, and the airport closed in 1952. For many years afterwards the broken winch in the middle of the meadow was all that remained of the airport.
The hangar, partly built by the members themselves, prior to completion.
Towards the end of the airport’s existence, the Aeroklub owned four gliders. A two-seat VT 52 Jeřáb pictured here.
Today most of Hrabětice meadows belongs to the Jablotron foundation, which aims to preserve this area as a typical mountain region. In the summer residents gather hay and pasture animals, but make sure not to disturb the local corn crake population. In the autumn after dark visitors can see herds of deer where the males are making terrible noises and fighting for the favor of does. In winter a cross-country ski track crosses over the meadows.
Text: PhDr. Milan Svoboda, Ph.D., Otokar Simm
Literature: Vojtěch Hájek, Historie sportovního letectví v Libereckém kraji 1945–1990 (History of Recreational Aviation in the Liberec Region 1945–1990), thesis KHI FP TUL 2015, p. 80–83
