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Old 3rd Sep 2020, 16:26
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Crromwellman
 
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Angel The Berlin Corridors and Control Zone

The Berlin Corridors and Control Zone (BCZ) were established by formal treaty between the four wartime Allies (Britain, France, USA and USSR) in 1945 in the wake of the Potsdam Conference. They were to allow free air access to Berlin. The Corridors were 20 statute miles wide and connected Berlin with Hamburg, Hanover and Frankfurt-am-Main. The Control Zone was 40 statute miles diameter, centred on the BASC building in the Kliestpark in Berlin. The Berlin Air Safety Centre (BASC) managed the traffic in the Corridors and BCZ and authorised flight plans. Physical control of aircraft in them was the responsibility of the US operated Berlin Air Route Traffic Control Center (BARTCC).

Up until 1953 the Corridors and BCZ were from Ground to Unlimited and could be used by any aircraft of the four wartime Allies. In the early days the RAF had regular fighter detachments to Gatow from airfields in the British Zone. This changed in 1953 when the Russians unilaterally imposed height limitations of 3,500 to 10,000 feet in the Corridors and 2,500 to 10,000 feet in the BCZ. They also restricted the types of aircraft allowed to use them to unarmed military transport and training aircraft and airliners belonging to the four wartime Allies. These restrictions were never formally accepted by the western allies but were tolerated to avoid rocking the boat.. Eventually aircraft from other nations could apply to use the Corridors and BCZ but this depended on permission being given by BASC. Aircraft registered in Germany, both East and West were NOT normally allowed to use the Corridors and BCZ. Post 1953 NO combat aircraft were allowed to use the Corridors and BCZ.but there may have been some unarmed (e.g. PR versions) that visited for Open Days but given Russian intransigence, and adherence to the letter of the rules, this seems unlikely

So, any British transport aircraft could use them which accounts for the variety of military transport types seen at Gatow as well as civil airliners (e.g. Britannia B-737 trooping flights). Within Germany 60 Sqn and its predecessors operated Ansons, Pembrokes and Andovers out of Buckeberg and Wildenrath on normal communications flights as well as some more nefarious operations. Also 115 Sqn in UK and EWAU operated into Berlin on 'calibration' flights.

Hope this helps clarify things
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