F / A-18 Hornet Solo Display
| F / A-18 Hornet Solo Display | |
|---|---|
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| Country: |
 Switzerland
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| Currently used aircraft type: | McDonnell Douglas F / A-18 |
| Sponsor: | Swiss Air Force |
| Base airfield: | Payerne military airfield |
| Founding: | 1997 |
| Colours: | Gray |
| Weblink: | official page |
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The F / A-18 Hornet Solo Display is an aerobatic team of the Swiss Air Force , which holds demonstrations with one aircraft of the type F / A-18 Hornet .
history
The F / A-18 Hornet Solo Display was founded shortly after the McDonnell Douglas F / A-18 was introduced by the Swiss Air Force in 1997. The task of the F / A-18 Solo Display is to demonstrate the flight performance and maneuverability of the F / A-18 at home and abroad at various flight demonstrations. From 1997 to 1998 the team consisted of 2 display pilots, Stéphane «Punzel» Rapaz and Werner «Höffi» Hoffmann. Since 1999, the F / A-18 Hornet Display has had one active display pilot who is often accompanied to the flight demonstrations by a former or future F / A-18 Hornet Display pilot when performing abroad, who is usually accompanied by a 2 F / A- 18C as a reserve on site. In contrast to the formation flight on sight and with the support of the team commander on the ground, as with the Patrouille Suisse or the PC-7 team , the F / A-18 Solo Display does not fly on sight as a reference, but a program based on numbers, Engine power, angle of attack, speed, rate of climb and descent.
F / A-18C (single seaters) are flown with no external loads, whenever possible from the F / A-18 fleet availability, the relay aircraft is used by the squadron in which the current F / A-18 Hornet display pilot is assigned. These are J-5011 of Fliegerstaffel 11 Tigers, J-5017 of Fliegerstaffel 17 Falcons or J-5018 of Fliegerstaffel 18 Panthers. If the relay aircraft is not available, the display is flown with any F / A-18C.
An exception was the first official flight demonstration by Stéphane «Punzel» Rapaz, who completed it with the F / A-18D J-5233, as well as the flight demonstration at MAKS 2013 near Moscow, where the flight demonstration with the F / A-18D (two-seater) J- 5232 was flown with wing tanks attached. At large air shows such as the RIAT or Air14 , the Hornet Solo Display Team often flies in the opening of the flight demonstration with the PC-7 Team, the Patrouille Suisse or the Super Puma Display Team in a joint overflight formation. Home base is the Payerne military airfield .
Awards
The team has won several awards since its inception e.g. B.
- Paul Bowen Solo Jet Aerobatic Trophy 2006, 2007, 2009
- 2nd place in “the most accurate, polish and safe display” 2012
- Commander Trophy for the “best military display” 2012
Pilots
| Surname | Season | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Nicolas "Vincent" Rossier | Fliegerstaffel 17 | 2017– |
| Julien "Teddy" master | Fliegerstaffel 17 | 2014-2017 |
| Bernhard «Beni» Kocher | Fliegerstaffel 18 | 2013 |
| Ralph "Deasy" Knittel | Fliegerstaffel 17 | 2010–2012, MAKS 2013 |
| Thomas "Pipo" Peier | Fliegerstaffel 18 | 2007-2009 |
| Michael "Elvis" Reiner | Fliegerstaffel 11 | 2004-2007 |
| Patrick "Dähli" Dähler | Fliegerstaffel 11 | 2001-2003 |
| Frédéric "Styff" Ryff | Fliegerstaffel 17 | 1999-2000 |
| Werner "Höffi" Hoffmann | Fliegerstaffel 11 | 1997-1998 |
| Stéphane "Punzel" Rapaz | Fliegerstaffel 17 | 1997-1998 |
See also
Web links
- F / A-18 Hornet Solo display on the Swiss Air Force website
Individual evidence
- Intra issue No. 4 2013 page 18.
- Insider 2014 page 14
- See web links