Manching Magicians

摘要

Flugplatz Ingolstadt-Manching, located around 43 miles (70km) north of Munich, is not a heavily utilised air base. In fact, visitors to the Bundeswehr Technical Centre for Aircraft and Aeronautical Equipment - better known as Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 61 (WTD 61, Defence Technical Department 61) - are likely to see only a few flights on any given day. WTD 61, which celebrated 60 years of existence in 2017, is the flight test unit of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) and shares the Bavarian airfield with the German Eurofighter production line and a handful of factory maintenance facilities. However, Eurofighter company test flying is independent of WTD 61 and is carried out by Airbus test pilots.