Fliegerstaffel 8
The Fliegerstaffel 8 "Vandalos" is a militia Fliegerstaffel of the Swiss Air Force equipped with Northrop F-5 E combat aircraft and, together with the Fliegerstaffel 11 , is subordinate to the Fliegergeschwader 13. Their home base is the military airfield Meiringen . Fliegerstaffel 8 has a red sawtooth fish as its coat of arms , which swims through the lower circle of a black number 8 on a white background. The sawtooth fish has the name Vandalo .
history
Fliegerkompanie 8 was founded in 1925; their first aircraft were the Häfeli DH-3 until 1933 and the Häfeli DH-5 from 1926 to 1934. From 1934 to 1940 the flight service took place with Fokker CV, plus C-35s for reconnaissance and ground combat. From 1940 to 1949 the Messerschmitt Me-109 E was used in the squadron. In 1945 the company was renamed Fliegerstaffel 8. The squadron was equipped with De Havilland DH.100 Vampires from 1950 to 1959 and in autumn 1956 the Fl St 8 completed a double training course in Meiringen, in which the missions were flown from the cavern for the first time . During the retraining phase for the Hawker Hunter in Emmen and the following services, Oblt Paul Habegger shot a season film called “Bambini Vandalo” on 8 mm. The film documents the work of the pilots of a Hunter squadron from the sixties. From 1959 to 1975 the flight operations took place with Hawker Hunter from the military airfield Meiringen , from 1976 to 1980 further with Hawker Hunter from the military airfield Alpnach . The squadron has been at home at the Meiringen military airfield since 1980, where the F / A-18 of Fliegerstaffel 11 was added in 2005. During the planned dismantling of the Hunter fleet, two Tiger squadrons were to be retrained for ground combat in a secondary role. In addition to ÜeG-Staffel 1 (professional pilots of the surveillance squadron), Militia-Staffel 8 was selected for this task. The ground combat mission was ended a little later. Traditionally, the relay at Axalpschiessen flies over in a formation that symbolizes an 8. In 1993 the first tiger with the registration J-3088 (which now wears the colors of the Patrouille Suisse) received the relay badge on the front body. Like all Swiss squadrons, Fliegerstaffel 8 has no aircraft that are specifically assigned to it; the F-5s are used not only by Fl St 8, but also by the other squadrons. However, the Fliegerstaffel 8, like the Fliegerstaffel 6, 11, 17, 18 and 19, received a machine with a squadron-related vertical tail painting on March 2nd, 2017. The F-5E J-3073 now has the red "Vandalo" fish and the number 8 on the white rudder unit, which has a black and gray background in parts, the gray and black area being made up of various numbers 8, as well as additional tanks with a Fliegerstaffel 8 special paint .
assignment
The orders of the «Vandalos» include portrayals of aggressors against the F / A-18 as well as the air police service to identify foreign aircraft.
Militia squadron
Fliegerstaffel 8 is a spleen pilot squadron, which means that all pilots in the squadron fulfill their military service and otherwise work in a wide variety of professions that do not necessarily have to have a connection with aviation. The future of Fliegerstaffel 8, just like the other two F-5 militia squadrons, Fliegerstaffel 6 and Fliegerstaffel 19 , is uncertain because the F-5 is expected to be retired in 2018 and no new pilots have been trained on F-5 for several years. The last flight of the Vandals / Fliegerstaffel 8 took place at the Axalp Fliegerschießen on October 12, 2017 at around 2:40 p.m. The ten F-5 landed a few minutes later for the last time in Meiringen, according to the announcement during the shooting. It is planned to introduce a successor model for the F-5 and F / A-18 in service with the Swiss Air Force in 2025. However, it is not yet clear how many squadrons will then exist and in what form they will then be organized. With the procurement of modern, complex combat aircraft, it is questionable whether militia pilots could be used effectively at all or whether they have to be replaced entirely by professional military pilots.
Planes
- Häfeli DH-3
- Häfeli DH-5
- Fokker CV
- C-35
- Messerschmitt Bf 109
- De Havilland DH.100 vampires
- Hawker Hunter
- Northrop F-5
Web links
- Official VBS website of FlSt8 ( Memento from May 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- Report on the history of the FlSt8 in Cockpit Magazin December 2000 ( Memento from February 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Season 8 - Vandals! ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Cockpit 12/2010
- ↑ Season machine FlSt8
