Axalp – Thunder over the Alps Pt.3

Here’s the 3rd and final report of the 2009 Axalp trip.

3rd of my stay in Axalp was the first official (and due bad weather the only) airshow day.

 

Hornets started straffing rounds in figure 8 pattern in the morning.

Sunlit Hornet turning towards targets

Heat blur from the engine covering the whole frame

Incendiary ammo hits fired by F-5 Tigers

Super Pumas and Cougars were delivering VIPs and journalists to the event

Huge crowd of around 6000 people – not bad for an airshow in the middle of the Alps at 2.200m

F/A-18s leading the F-5s in a mixed formation over the valley

Super Puma leading the EC-635

Super Pumas escape from the wall of smoke and fire caused by its flares

Swiss pilots are used to landing in a remote spots – as can be seen here

Click on the links below to access the first two parts of the report

PART1 PART2

Axalp – Thunder over Alps Pt.2

Below is the selection of my photos from second day of my visit to Axalp range in Switzerland; for more info on Axalp check my first part of the report.

The below photos were taken from Wildgärst mountain (2891m).

Tiger Attack!

 

Smokin’ Hornets

 

Precision mountain flying – Patrouille Suisse

 

For more photos, click on the photo below!

And stay tuned for Axalp – Thunder over Alps part 3

Meiringen Air Base

Meiringen Air Base lies in the near vincinity of Brienz and just below the Axalp range. On my first day of visit we went down there in the evening to take some night photos. I must admit it was one of the hardest things I ever photographed  – fast accelerating jet in total darkness, long exposure, only position and formation lights for visual clue and a bit of rain to top it off. At the end, some of them turned out quite OK.

Axalp part 1

Axalp is a small Swiss mountain village, lying at 1500m over the green Brienz see. In aviation world, Axalp is known for the nearby Swiss Air Force training range, where each year in early October, Swiss AF practices flying around mountains and straffing ground targets with their cannons. Axalp 2009 was my first but defintely not the last. Here’s a selection of photos from Monday 5th October.

Expect photos from Tuesday and Wednesday in the near future