Treaty on Open Skies at end ? we hope not

With United States decision to withdraw from the 1992 established Treaty, the other 33 signatory states has to make decisions to continue the mission - a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its participants.

The program was established for mutual understanding and confidence between those States with allowing unarmed surveillance flights over there territory.

The actual decision is a political one, but not to the best of the people living on this small blue planet.


I had the chance to see some of those special equipped aircrafts back in 1999 at RIAT Fairford, UK. One of the special themes there was Open Skies.

Some nice pictures of those missions you can watch here: https://www.osce.org/fsc/66205

Czech Republic Air Force's Antonov An-30FG (cn 1107), wfu 2003 and dismantled/moved to Zruc Air Park

Royal Air Force's Hawker Siddeley HS-780 Andover C1(PR), XS596 (cn 1574)

Russia Air Force's Antonov An-30B BLACK 04 (cn 0704), w/o 23may12 on landing at Cáslav after an Open Skies mission over Czechia when came in too fast, caught fire and burnt out. 6 of 23 crew injured. Actual Open Skies aircrafts are Tupolev Tu-154M LK-1 and Tupolev Tu-214ON.

This Boeing OC-135B (717-158) 61-2670 / OF (cn 18346) is the Open Skies aircraft of the USA. With the actual discussion the missions will be flown by specialised military aircrafts in the future - like those RC-135V Rivet Joint:

USAF Boeing RC-135V Rivet Joint (739-445B), 62-4132 / OF (cn 18472)

Measurement of Radioactivity - Swiss Air Force with Tiger F-5 and Super Puma

Every year an special campaign week to detect radioactivity (Aerial radiometry) is driven by the Swiss Air Force. This - in combination with the ground based Automatic Dose Alarm and Monitoring Network (NADAM),  the Network for Automatic Monitoring of the Dose Rate in the Vicinity of Nuclear Power Plants (MADUK, also ground based) and bi-monthly flown missions with the EKUR-equipped sample filter on an F-5 Tiger II - allows the government to monitor the ambient dose rate in and above Switzerland.
The Section Environmental Radioactivity (URA) of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (SFOPH) operates also two distinct air collection networks: RADAIR and LUSAN.


EKUR-Pod / Höhenflugfilter (HFF) on the F-5 Tiger

Two filters attached to the F-5 Tiger are deployed in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, meaning between 8,000 and 15,000 meters altitude, to collect aerosol samples. The filters are then analyzed in the URA laboratory in Liebefeld using gamma spectrometry. This method allows to detect the smallest concentrations of radioactivity in the higher air layers. Since the rapid air mass movements (jet streams) play primarily in the higher air layers, very large-scale shipments of radioactivity can be detected quickly before the radioactivity settles on soil and plants. Each flight takes 20-30 minutes and samples in between 2000 and 4000 kg of air with Mach 0.8.

Link

Sample collector on the F-5 Tiger II and the results of the flights 2010-2016

Aerial radiometry with the Super Puma

Aerial radiometry enables the NEOC (National Emergency Operational Centre, the federal centre of expertise for exceptional incidents) to measure nuclide-specific deposits in the soil and activity over a large area. This is performed by a measurement system consisting of a NaI detector with a volume of 16.8 l; a spectrometer with 256 channels and automatic gain control; industrial computers for the control of the measurements, for data collection, processing and storing. For positioning a GPS receiver is used.
In three hours, a surface area of up to 70km2 can be measured. The measured values are tracked online and are presented in a ready-to-print map on landing. Aerial radiometry is used if a larger area needs to be scanned for radioactivity, e.g. following a transport accident, plane crash or during the search for sources of radioactivity that have either been lost or acquired illegally.

You can see Super Puma T-322 in use with the special equipment, monitoring the cities of Solothurn and Fribourg, the four national nuclear power stations, the area in between Berne and Kandersteg and the area of lake geneva. 

Some pictures taken Mai 30th, 2018 above Fribourg/Freiburg:

Spectacular views with the Poya-Bridge - the helicopter has to follow the ground in 90m distance and in exact lines of 250m

The Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Fribourg, built in the Gothic style, dominates the center of the medieval town of Fribourg (Switzerland). It is built on a rocky outcrop 50 metres above the river Sarine (Saane).

The results of the flights showed normal readings and will be used as 0 (Zero)-probe of the city in case of an emergency.

Super Constellation HB-RSC - Season 2018 cancelled

Bad news from the Super Constellation Flyers - the aircraft will not be ready for flights in 2018 (see also the blog-entry from April'18). Maintenance is still needed. SWISS airline provides an hangar 'till August'18 minimum, so the maintenance can work indoors.

Source

News from the hangar 

Maintenance tasks are progressing well on the Super Constellation. Unfortunately, both systems and structural repairs are more complex and time consuming than originally anticipated. This means that sadly, the «Star of Switzerland» will not be flying again this year as the aircraft will not be ready in time for the required test and check flights to be accomplished before the end of the summer.

However, after talks with FOCA representatives as well as receiving positive feedback following previous inspections, we are confident that upon completion of the required maintenance tasks, we will have many successful flying seasons to look forward to! 

Thanks to a generous offer by Swiss Airlines, our «Connie» will have a hangar spot until the end of August 2018. This will allow us to continue focusing on necessary repairs without causing delays by having to move the aircraft frequently. 

Our «SuperLetter» will be mailed out on June 22. In it you will find additional information on the status of the Super Constellation. 

Missing Women found after a 45mins search attempt of the Air Force

The Swiss Air Force helped the police of the canton Vaud successfully in the search for a missing woman.

An 89-year-old missing woman was found, albeit injured, again. This thanks to the use of a helicopter of the Swiss Air Force.
The very elderly woman had disappeared on May 28th from the hospital Lavaux in Cully, as the cantonal police reports. Police requested assistance from the air force on the morning of June 1st. An EC-635 started in Dübendorf and took on the flight operational head of the cantonal police in Lausanne-Blécherette.
The wanted person was found only three quarters of an hour later in the Lausanne area. A ground patrol rescued her and immediately took her to the University Hospital of Lausanne. Shortly after noon, the helicopter arrived back in Dübendorf.