Buc Airfield

The closure was due to a combination of factors:
1. **Consolidation:** Operations were merged with the larger, adjacent, and better-equipped Toussus-le-Noble Airport (LFPN), which had paved runways.
2. **Urban Redevelopment:** The site was located in a rapidly developing suburban area near Versailles and Paris. The valuable land was repurposed for commercial and industrial use to support economic growth in the region.
3. **Obsolescence:** As a large, grass-field aerodrome, it became obsolete for modern, heavier aircraft compared to airports with hard-surfaced runways.
4. **Post-War Military Drawdown:** Its primary role as a major military training and acceptance field significantly diminished after World War II, reducing the need for such a large facility.

The site of the former Buc Airfield has been completely redeveloped and is now unrecognizable as an airfield. It is occupied by the 'Parc d'Activités de Buc' (Buc Business Park), a large commercial, technological, and light industrial zone that is part of the larger Paris-Saclay technology cluster. As a tribute to its past, many streets within the business park are named after aviation pioneers and aircraft, such as Rue Louis Blériot, Avenue Morane Saulnier, Rue Clément Ader, and Rue des Frères Voisin. The coordinates provided point directly into this redeveloped area.

Buc Airfield was one of the most important cradles of early aviation in France and the world.
- **Pioneering Era:** Established around 1909, it was one of the world's first permanent airfields. Aviation pioneer Louis Blériot founded his flight school here in 1909, shortly after his historic English Channel crossing. It quickly became a hub for other famous manufacturers and pilots like Henri Farman, Robert Morane, and Léon Saulnier.
- **World War I:** The airfield was of paramount strategic importance during WWI. It served as a major military aviation school (École d'aviation militaire de Buc), a testing ground for new aircraft, and one of the largest aircraft acceptance and delivery depots for the French Aéronautique Militaire and Allied forces on the Western Front. Thousands of pilots were trained, and tens of thousands of aircraft (like Spad, Breguet, and Morane-Saulnier) passed through Buc.
- **Interwar and WWII:** It remained an active center for aviation training and industry between the wars. During World War II, it was occupied and used by the German Luftwaffe and was subsequently targeted by Allied bombing raids. After the liberation, it was briefly used by Allied forces.

There are zero prospects for the airfield to reopen. The land has been irreversibly and densely redeveloped with buildings, roads, and commercial infrastructure. Re-establishing an airfield on this site is physically and economically impossible.