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Alpnach air base 2009

Alouette III

Swiss helicopter town Alpnach,

Alpnach is the Swiss Air Force`s primary helicopter base, located just south of Luzern and near to the legendary mountain of Pilatus. The base is the headquarters to Lufttransportgeschwader 2 - (Air Transport Wing 2); the latter composed of Lufttransportstaffeln 6 and 8 - (LT St 6 & 8) and also housing a RUAG facility for overhauls.

Alpnach is a photography friendly base. A public road goes through the centre of the airfield to behind the long line of large hangars. A raised public viewing area has been built to watch or photograph the helicopters. With the sun being in the best place for pictures in the mornings.

The first helicopter was based here back in 1964 when an Alouette 2 unit took up residence. Since then jet aircraft such as the Hawker Hunter and Northrop F-5 have operated from here, although fixed wing operations ceased back in 1994. LTSt.6 and LTSt.8 are now the resident squadrons operating a mix of Alouette 3, Puma, Cougar and EC.635 helicopters.

The Swiss Air Force is currently in the process of modernising its utility helicopter fleet, with the venerable Aerospatiale Alouette III being replaced by the Eurocopter EC635. Backbone of the Swiss light helicopter fleet for many years has been the Aerospatiale Alouette III. 84 SA316B Alouette III's were purchased from 1964, with a final batch of 60 F+W Emmen built examples which were delivered between 1972 and 1974. By 2009, less then 30 Alouette IIIs remained in service. They are used for training, light transport, fire fighting and mountain rescue.

EC635

Puma/Cougar



The fleet of Aérospatiale AS.332M-1 Super Pumas is composed of 15 aircraft, purchased between 1986 and 1989. Apart from troop and equipment transport, the Super Puma is particularly effective against forest fires. Two Super Pumas are permanently kept on one hour alert status for Search and Rescue (SAR) duties. They are fitted with FLIR and night vision equipment to assist the crew with their duties.

The success of the Puma let to the purchase of 12 AS.532UL Cougars. They were delivered from 2002. 1 example (T-331) is equipped for VIP transport and normally resides at Bern, Belp airfield, the rest are used for general transport duties.
 


The Swiss Air Force officially announced a requirement for a replacement for the Alouette III. The requirement was filled by an order for 20 Eurocopter EC135/EC635 helicopters. The batch of 20 aircraft ordered was composed of two EC135P2+ VIP transport helicopters and 18 EC635P2+ aircraft for utility and  advanced training. An added bonus in the training role is that the EC635 has similar avionics and instruments to the Super Puma and Cougar helicopters also  operated by the Swiss Air Force, providing an easier transition for new pilots.

For the moment, the Alouette and EC635 currently remain operational alongside each other, but delivery of the remaining EC635s on order will mean final retirement of the Alouette III.
 


 

 
 

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