Sola Air Station () is a base for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. It is located in Sola municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. Rescue Helicopter Service is stationed at Sola along with Helicopter Squadron 330. Also located at Sola is Stavanger Airport, Sola and an aviation museum. Near Sola, at Jåttå in Stavanger is NATOs Joint Warfare Center. Operations Headquarters of the Rescue Helicopter Service with 330 Squadron who operates AgustaWestland AW101 SAR Queen search and rescue helicopters. The 12 helicopters are also detached to Rygge Air Station, Ørland Main Air Station, Bodø Main Air Station and Banak Air Station, with one helicopter on stand-by at any given time. Other represented units from the Norwegian Armed Forces include the Home Guard, Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization, and Norwegian Cyber Defence Force. History Opening Sola Air Station was founded at May 29, 1937 by King Haakon VII, an air show with 42 aircraft marking the occasion. In 1939, it was decided to station military aircraft on the airfield (because of the tense situation unfolding in Europe at the time). August 5, 1939, the first Caproni Ca.310 bomber landed here. Operation Weserübung On April 9, 1940, in reaction to the German invasion of Norway, the bomber squadron was ordered to the east, but before they could take off, six German aircraft attacked. The bombers were damaged, only a few getting airborne to later be abandoned elsewhere and the airport was seized. Here, the first opposed landing by paratroopers took place as 132 German fallschirmjägers from 1st battalion of the 1st Regiment, 7th Flieger Division were dropped on the airfield. Around 3 fallschirmjägers became casualties as the air station's sole completed machine gun bunker fired on the attackers until being knocked out by a hand grenade, seriously wounding the gunner. During the German occupation, the Luftwaffe used the facility's seaplane base for operations in support of Kriegsmarine ships based on the Norwegian coast. Embarked Air Squadron 1/196 made three partial deployments to the facility in 1940 and 1941 before the entire squadron was based there through April and May 1944, after which part of the squadron would remain until into July 1944. Liberation and post-war The next paratrooper landing at Sola took place May 9, 1945. This time, it was British and Norwegian troops that recaptured the airfield. 330 Squadron was the first Norwegian squadron to land after the war. The squadron had been