"65th ANNIVERSARY
OF
SION AIR BASE"
27th September 2008 - Sion AB, Switzerland

 

 

 

 


from "Airshow Swiss Style", World Airshow News (January/February 2009)

A not so much big but however very exciting event took place in Switzerland the last 26th and 27th September. It’s the open day organized by the “Schweizer Luftwaffe” (Swiss Air Force) in occasion of the 65th Anniversary of Sion Air Base.
The airport, located in the south-west of Switzerland not so far from the Italian boundary line, is used both for military and civil air traffic as the mostly airports in this country.

                  The "PC-7 Team" and Sion in the background
In particular the air base is the headquarter of the “Kommando Pilotenschule der Luftwaffe 85” (85th Flight School of Luftwaffe) equipped with the training aircrafts Pilatus PC-7s, of the “Zielfliegerstaffel 12” and the “Instrumentenflugstaffel 21”A PC-9 of the “Zielfliegerstaffel 12” both equipped with the advanced PC-9s and of a fighter squadron of F-5s “Fliegerstaffel 19”.
Moreover during the yearly refresher course called “Wiederholungskurs”, that all pilots (most of them do this military activity besides their normal job) have to follow in order to get the skills needed for a decent defence, the Sion air base frequently hosts different squadrons coming from the other Swiss air base.  
The open day program was the same for both days Friday and Saturday and the participants too, so we decided to attend the show of the second day.  
On the ground visitors could admire almost all aircrafts and helicopters used so far by the local air force as: the Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter, PC-7 and PC-9, the Mirage Static display 3RS, the Vampire, the Alouette III and the AS532UL Cougar. In three shelters there were also parked two F-18s and two F-5s completely “opened” where it was able to see all components ofOne of the two F-18s in the shelters the aircraft such as cockpit, gun, electronic and hydraulic components and so on.  
The flight display started at 13.30 o’ clock with a powerful display of an F/A-18C.  
We have to remember that there are no many flight restrictions in Switzerland in opposition to what The Swiss F-18 taxing in front of the spectators; the fences were very close to the runway happens in many other parts of Europe, so it was normal to have fences at about ten meters from the runway as it was normal to see a fighter jet making loops over your head as it was normal to make an high speed low altitude passage with afterburner near a city centre.  
The show was spectacular especially when the pilot was pulling up many “g”s producing a beautiful vapour effects (nice shot opportunities for aviation spotters). When the F-18 has landed, it’s the time of the two Swiss acrobatic teams: the “PC-7 Team” equipped with nine PC-7s and the “Patrouille Suisse” The "Patrouille Suisse" in action equipped with six F-5s.  
The displays were absolutely flawless and took in total about 40 minutes of acrobatic figures and manoeuvres executed taking advantage of the terrain morphology. It was really appreciated by the spectators the idea of appearing suddenly with new formations or figures from the surrounding mountains.  
Even if it was a small event, it was a good occasion for aviation enthusiasts and for local citizens to see the air force in action between the beautiful mountains and green fields of Switzerland.

                                                                                            Luca G. Polidori

 

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