Next great airshows in Switzerland - Air Thun and Yverdon Fly-In

After an airshow is before another airshow - so I'm preparing my gear already again for the next event in Thun this weekend ;)

Air Thun - Internationales Bückertreffen, 31st August - 02nd September

The 19th International Bückermeet is held on this little airfield south of the city at the lake with the same name.
http://air-thun.ch/

Fly-In Yverdon, Saturday 15th September 2018

With many historic aircrafts like P3, Moth Major, Chipmunk, L4, Messerschmitt 108, T6 and the famous Grandjean Replica !
http://www.lsgy.ch

-> next year again a big YVAIR-Airshow  31st August - 01st September 2019 !!!

Other Events of interest - but without participation of myself:

Erlebnis Flughafen Zürich, September 1st and 2nd 2018
70 years of ZRH Zurich Airport with Patrouille Suisse and PC-7 Team
http://www.welcome-flughafen-zuerich.ch/erlebniswochenende/

11th Oldtimerclassic Hittnau, September 1st and 2nd 2018

Cars and Aircrafts 

http://www.oldtimerclassic.ch

Flüügerchilbi Langenthal, September 2nd, 2018
The tradition is going on
http://sgoberaargau.ch/uber-uns/flugerchilbi-2018/

Hunterfest 2018 - Oldtimers on former Swiss Air Force base of St. Stephan

End of August, like every year, thousands of aviation enthusiasts are travelling to the Simmental Valley to the former military airfield of SST. Always the same days like Dittinger Flugtage Airshow near the german border, only in Sankt Stephan (ICAO-Code: LSTS) you have some nice mountains in the background or to climb for taking pictures from above. And never trust the meteorologists in the alps - most time the weather is predicted much worse then in reality ;)

Some impressions from this years edition training day - more infos on the official homepage !

Hunterverein Obersimmental

Das Programm vom Samstag 25. August 2018

- ab 8.30: Eintreffen der Besucher und Flugzeuge
- 9.30: GV des Huntervereins Obersimmental
- ab 10.00: Verkaufsstände 
- 10.30-12.00: Flüge mit Hunter, Vampire, PC-7
- 11.00: Apéro Ehrenmitglieder, Sponsoren, Ehrengäste
- 11.30-17.00: Rundflüge mit Swiss Helicopter
- 12.00-13.00: Mittagspause
- 12.00: Essen Ehrenmitglieder, Sponsoren, Ehrengäste
- 12.00: Mittagessen in der Hunter-Beiz oder bei den Verpflegungsständen neben dem Hangar und bei den Jets
- 13.00-17.00: Flüge mit Hunter, Vampire, PC-7
- Dazwischen Display Oldtimer-Flugzeuge
- ab 16.00: Rundflüge mit Swiss Helicopter
- ab 17.00: Rückflug der meisten Flugzeuge
- Anschliessend aufräumen und Ausklang in der Hunter-Bar beim Hunter-Unterstand

Änderungen im Programm vorbehalten!

Bitte Verkehrslenkung und signalisierte Parkplätze beachten!

The real majesty of the skies above the Simmental valley - an golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) - shares its territory with some legends of steel like the famous Papyrus Hunter.

 

ALPA MILI - Swiss Air Force will support some alps with fresh water

Like in 2015, many alps in Switzerland have again not enough water for the cows and other animals. After an hard winter and not much rain thereafter, the water sources are limited. Swiss Air Force will help and use Super Puma / Cougar helicopters with Bamby buckets in support of the civil helicopter companies.

Super Puma Display Team cancelled the displays in Kreuzlingen and Rapperswil for this weekend in support of ALPA MILI !
EDIT 21.08.2016: Also the displays im Zeiningen amd Dittingen are cancelled !

Some lakes received temporary restrictions for swimming / boating, duration is 1 to 3 weeks, here are those in Canton of Fribourg (Canton of Vaud and Berne are also in the program, but you have to search for yourself then):

Lac de Gruyère / Gruyère Lake, Canton of Fribourg

Lac de Montsalvens / Montsalvens Lake, Canton of Fribourg:

The return of the Fighters

After a month in central Switzerland, the active Hornet and Tigerfleet came back to Payerne this morning. Payerne was closed due runway maintenance, a fate now the runway in Emmen will have for one month.
Patrouille Suisse and the Pilot School on PC-21 are also operating out of Payerne, some Infos for the flightschedule in the coming days:


Swiss Air Force's Hornet Display Team

En août le SWISS HORNET DISPLAY TEAM sera visible à divers endroits en Suisse

03.08.2018
Payerne Airbase (VD)
08:45 & 13:45 (horaires à confirmer)
2 entraînements en remplacement des “Fêtes de Genève” annulées
24.08.2018
11:15 Dittingen (BL) : Dittinger Flugtag
17:00 Villeneuve (VD) : Acro Show
25.08.2018
14:00 Villeneuve (VD) : Acro Show
17:00 Dittingen (BL) : Dittinger Flugtag
Les démonstrations à Villeneuve comprendront des Flares si les conditions le permettent.

Patrouille Suisse

Vom 10.08 bis 11.08.2018 Flugvorführung
LW | Display Teams | Rapperswil-JonaSeenachfest Rapperswil-Jona 2018
Vom 17.08 bis 19.08.2018
Flugvorführung
LW | Patrouille Suisse | GachnangMXGP Switzerland 2018
Vom 23.08 bis 27.08.2018
Flugvorführung
LW | Patrouille Suisse | Radom (POL)Polish Air Force's 100th Anniversary Celebration
Vom 30.08 bis 01.09.2018
Flugvorführung
LW | Patrouille Suisse | Flughafen ZürichErlebnistage 2018

Super Puma Display Team

Swiss Air Force's PC-7 Team

exJordan F-5 Tiger II receives glass cockpit - in TacAir service

What a bummer .... Swiss Air Force always blocked modernisation of the cockpit of our 'obsolete' F-5 Tiger II combat aircrafts. They prefer to sell them cheap to the US Navy and Marines Corps and buy new fighters.
Now the US TacAir company includes a Garmin G3000 flight deck and boosts the capacity of 21 ex Jordan Air Foce Fighters into 21 century ....
TacAir has modernised there fleet of Tigers already with Duotech’s purpose-built Nemesis Aggressor Radar, Argus RWR gear, Mason HOTAS, Tailored Mission Computer, and Upgraded Wiring allowing Integration of Multiple Tactical Systems. They are used for Aggressor/Adversary Support, JTAC Training and Fighter-Lead-In Training.

Garmin public release
TacAir

VFR-Guide Switzerland shall not be used for operational briefings

Due multiple errors and/or possible misinterpretations, the official VFR-Guide for Switzerland shall not be used for operational briefings actually. Skyguide will inform soon.

pdf (german) via aeroclub.ch


Links:
Federal Office of Civila Aviation FOCA
Skyguide VFR Guide

Swiss Air Force scrambled for British Airways July 5th

Last thursday, two Swiss Air Force F/A-18 Hornet on QRA duty had to scramble for flight BA610 due missing radio contact of the flight.

Source: http://avherald.com/h?article=4bac50fa&opt=0

Swiss QRA called Luftpolizeidienst24 (LPD24) is based in Emmen this month. The following picture shows the contrails of the 'EYEBALL' visiting the intercepted aircraft - in this case a Portuguese Air Force Falcon Businessjet - and the 'SHOOTER' a few miles behind for cover a few days ago:

Air2030: Request for new aircrafts to Government Offices of Fighter Aircraft Manufacturers submitted

Dassault's Rafale is one of the european competitors for Switzerland's new fighter aircraft

Bern, 06.07.2018 - The handover of the first offer request for new fighter aircraft to the government agencies of the producer countries has taken place. armasuisse expects the offers until the end of January 2019. Official link (german)

Saab Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon are the other two european candidates. Offers for Boeing's Super Hornet and Lockheed's F-35 where also requested. All Types will be tested in Payerne Mai 'till July, 2019.

Revue Militaire Suisse with the yearly Aviation Special Edition

Beginning mid last year, I've scanned some old negatives and diapositives for the yearly aviation edition of swiss magazine Revue Militaire Suisse, a french speaking magazine about military tactics, history and future developments.
In the actual magazine you can find some of my pictures and text about the russian strategic bomber force (past and future), the last repetition courses of Turtmann Airfield with F-5E Tiger II 2002/2003 and an article about the German Naval Aviation and the actual status of the Tornado Fleet in our northern neighbour country.
Together with my fellow co-Authors Peter Lewis, Loïc Roulin, Lionel Charlet and Pascal Kümmerling you will find many more nice pictures and articles like Air-to-Air shots of our Air Force and the famous Papyrus Hunter too.
It's a must have for your personal aviation corner ;)

http://www.revuemilitairesuisse.ch/fr/

Summer break in Payerne

A month earlier then other years, the Swiss Air Force is flying out of Emmen for a month. Meiringen and Payerne are closed down for Runway repairs and/or touristic reasons.

Some shots from Payerne I've taken the last few weeks ...

Also the new special colour of the Swiss Air Force Hornet Fleet, J-5017, has left Payerne for Emmen. Picture via  Julien Meister/VBS