Emmen military airfield
| Emmen military airfield | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | LSME |
| IATA code | EML |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 426 m (1398 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 5 km north of Lucerne |
| Street | A2 motorway |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1939 |
| operator | Swiss Air Force |
| surface | 117 ha |
| Flight movements |
12,500 (2010) |
| Employees | 1400 |
| Start-and runway | |
| 04/22 | 3000 m × 40 m asphalt |
The Emmen military airfield ( IATA : EML , ICAO : LSME ) is a military airfield in Emmen in the canton of Lucerne .
Flight operations
Emmen airfield is primarily used for military purposes and is operated by the Swiss Air Force . This describes it as a training and alternative airfield for jet and propeller aircraft as well as the ADS-95 reconnaissance system . Above all, target tow plows with PC-9 and EKF radar jamming flights with PC-9 and F-5F with the VISTA5 jammer take place from Emmen. The safety cable system at both ends of the runway for F / A-18 and F-5 can be lowered flush with the runway so that they are not an obstacle for small aircraft. This means that there is no jet squadron stationed in Emmen, but the airfield is still used as a training and alternative location. The airfield also serves the following military uses:
- Location of the aerobatic team Patrouille Suisse
- Air Force pilot training
- Location of destination flight and transport squadrons
- Training and courses with reconnaissance drones
- Training center for simulators with Super Puma , Eurocopter EC 635 and Pilatus PC-21
- Works flights by RUAG Aviation on behalf of the Air Force
- Armasuisse test flights
In 2010 a total of 12,576 aircraft movements were registered, of which 2,942 were jet movements.
In addition to military use, the airfield is also used for civil purposes to a limited extent. RUAG Aviation manages a contingent of 1,000 aircraft movements per year for civil use. In addition to RUAG, the Emmen Economic Development Corporation and the municipality of Emmen can also claim shares from this quota. Emmen is also the home base of the three Armasuisse aircraft: Pilatus PC-12 HB-FOG, Pilatus PC-6 HB-FCF and the DA42 R-711.
During the summer flight break, there are exceptionally large civil events organized by private individuals.
history
After several preliminary projects in the 1920s by the federal government and the city of Lucerne , the municipal assembly of Emmen decided in 1938 to contribute CHF 200,000 to the construction of the airfield. By decision of the Federal Council, the Federal Military Department was commissioned to build a military airfield in Emmen. After the construction of the airfield, the first landing took place on July 7, 1939. In 1940 a 600 m long hard surface and a 600 m long cross slope were created. In 1942 the hard surface slope was extended to 700 m, in 1946 to 1,100 m.
In 1949 the federal government was obliged to build the new Rüeggisingerstrasse. In 1951, the slope was extended in a south-easterly direction to a total of 1500 m. In 1957, construction of the slope extension began on both sides to a total of 2500 m, which meant that the newly constructed Rüeggisingerstrasse had to be relocated again.
The first jet aircraft built in Switzerland, the N-20.2 Arbalète, which is now on display in the Lucerne Museum of Transport, takes off from Emmen airfield . After the Eidgenössisches Flugzeugwerk N-20 project was completed, the Emmen-built N-20.10 Aiguillon, which was refused a first flight, was only able to carry out a few taxiing attempts on the Emmen runway. The N-20.10 Aiguillon is exhibited today in the Flieger-Flab-Museum in Dübendorf.
In 1965, an agreement was reached with the municipality of Emmen on measures to avoid excessive aircraft noise, which was specified in a 13-point program.
Conflicts of use
Emmen Airport is located in the middle of the Lucerne agglomeration with around 200,000 inhabitants. There is resistance among the local population to the noise immissions, which is organized in the protection association of the population around the Emmen airfield . In the summer of 2012, the Protection Association (SFE) submitted a petition with 5,749 signatures to the Federal Council for a six-week summer flight break and a limitation of fighter jet noise.
In order to address concerns, the Air Force is limiting flight times to Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. In summer, flight operations are usually suspended for three to four weeks.
future
The Emmen military airfield remains important for the Swiss Air Force, especially since with the abandonment of military jet operations in Sion from 2016, only Meiringen and Payerne remain as jet airfields alongside Emmen. RUAG and Pilatuswerke are also dependent on Emmen for the export of their goods outside of Europe. However, it remains questionable how far the Luftwaffe will be able to operate Emmen economically after the F-5 Tigers have been decommissioned, the Pilatus PC-9s have been decommissioned and the 24 ADS 95s to 6 Elbit Hermes 900s have been replaced. It was planned to operate a series of rented Gripen C / D from Emmen from 2016 to 2020. This plan became obsolete with the referendum against the purchase of 22 GripenE.
Web links
-
Emmen Air Base on the Swiss Air Force website
- Stefan Scheuteri: 70 years of the Emmen military airfield and the early days of the Emmen military airfield (1924 to 1945). In: Bulletin Flugplatzkommando Emmen , No. 1/2009, pp. 3–4 (PDF; 1.5 MB).
- Stefan Scheuteri: From the history of the Emmen military airfield. 1949 to 1990 . In: Bulletin Flugplatzkommando Emmen , No. 2/2009, p. 11 (PDF; 1.1 MB).
- Stefan Scheuteri: From the history of the Emmen military airfield. 1991 to 2012 . In: Bulletin Flugplatzkommando Emmen , No. 1/2012, p. 9 (PDF; 1.9 MB).
- Emmen Air Base . Video of the Swiss Army on YouTube (20:25 min.).
- Website of the protection association of the population around the Emmen airfield
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b [1] (PDF; 144 kB) Emmen Municipal Council: Answer to the interpellation regarding private jet landings in Emmen, February 29, 2012 (accessed on July 21, 2012)
- ↑ [2] (PDF; 7.1 MB) Emmenmail , publication by the municipality of Emmen (accessed on July 21, 2012)
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from February 27, 2014 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. Homepage of the Emmen military airfield (accessed May 29, 2012)
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 5, 2010 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. Swiss Air Force: simulators
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from February 22, 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. (PDF; 26 kB) Protection association of the population around Emmen airfield: Minutes of the 10th general meeting
- ↑ [3] (PDF; 78 kB) Government Council of the Canton of Lucerne: Answer to the postulate about aircraft noise in Central Switzerland, April 20, 2012 (accessed on May 29, 2012)
- ↑ [4] (PDF; 52 kB) Emmen municipal council: Answers to the interpellation regarding noise-intensive events by private individuals at Emmen airfield (accessed on May 29, 2012)
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2014 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. (PDF; 827 kB) Swiss Air Force 2009: Excerpt from the chronicle - origin and development of the Emmen military airfield and weapon field since 1924 (accessed on May 29, 2012)
- ↑ [5] ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Neue Luzerner Zeitung, May 15, 2012 (accessed on May 29, 2012)
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2012 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. Swiss Air Force: Flight operating times and occupancy planning Flpl Kdo Emmen (accessed on May 29, 2012)
