Afterburner.nl - Axalp 2003

Swiss fighters over the Alps
Annually during a week in October the Swiss Air Force practises live firing at a range on top of the Axalp Mountain. Traditionally this week will be concluded by an air show at a height of 7365 feet. Fortunately there is no fence around the mountain and after an enormous climb you will reach the targets. A tremendous experience but this year it was extra special. This year the Mirage 3RS was participating for the last time in the exercise. For us the main reason to drive to this magnificent country!

For us reason enough to drive some 800km down south. On Monday 6 October early in the morning we arrived at Payerne. We wanted to take it easy on the first day after driving through the night, in stead of climbing up that mountain right away. Unfortunately it was a bit too easy; Payerne was not flying at all in the morning. However, around noon the first fighters came out of their garage boxes. Minutes later we were taking the first pictures of taking off Hornets under a bright sun. Very pleased with this first day of Swiss action we continued our journey to Brienz, where we booked a youth hostel. Tired as we were, we wanted to go to bed early, a hell of a climb was on the menu for the next day. When we arrived at the hostel, we found out that the weather for the next day would be very bad. No way we could get on top of Axalp on Tuesday. And it was of no use anyway, the air force would not fly in those weather circumstances.

So we had a good night rest and after breakfast we decided to drive around and visit Alpnach, Stans, Emmen and Dubendorf in the rain. At Emmen we were lucky! We were just in time to witness the launch of an UAV… The museum at Dubendorf was warm so we paid a visit there as well. In the early afternoon we returned to Brienz to make plans for Wednesday. Despite the fact that the weather would be quite okay, the Swiss Air Force website gave the information that again they would not go to Axalp again. We decided to go to Meiringen. All the F-5s performing at Axalp are temporary based at Meiringen. This base is located some 5 kilometres from Brienz. When we arrived there, a wave of 8 Tigers was just taking off. It was clearly visible that they were not heading for Axalp, although the weather was excellent. When a second wave of 8 aircraft went out, a formation of 6 Mirage 3RS crossed the base at rather high level. This made us instantly decide to go to Dubendorf; Mirages were on top of our priority list.

Soon it became clear that we made a good decision. Dubendorf was very active and no less than 6 Mirages went out again. In addition to that, several Tigers, Hornets and Super Pumas flew as well. This all with a nice sun in the back. Extremely satisfied we arrived at the youth hostel where we heard from some friends that all the aircraft from the afternoon missions went to Axalp. Damn… Another weather check. Again bad weather was approaching, supposed to pass the region Thursday in the morning and clearing up from the west in the afternoon. Again no Axalp movements to be expected.

On Thursday we left the hostel around noon, heading for Payerne. Since it was supposed to clear up from the west, to us it seemed the best idea to travel west; Payerne. A short stop at Interlaken learned that the Swiss Air Force was flying in Super Pumas here. That was a good sign, as they are used to bring up guests and VIPs to the Axalp range from Interlaken. We got the impression that they were preparing everything for tomorrow (Friday). When we arrived at Payerne we noticed the clearances approaching from the west. The F/A-18s were rather active that afternoon and to our surprise there was a visiting Czech An-24. Back at the youth hostel it became clear that the Axalp Fire Power Demo was scheduled for tomorrow. In the evening we prepared all our gear and car. We had to get up very early. There isn’t too much parking space up mountain so if you arrive too late, the parking lots are closed and you have to go down again. We were in time!

Then the great challenge starts. At six in the morning, we’re having 15 kilos of weight on our backs, it’s completely dark and you don’t know the way, it’s freezing cold and we had a mountain to climb… Depending on your physical condition it takes some 1,5 to 2,5 hours to reach the tower, situated at 7365 feet above mean sea level. Once you get there, the reward is huge! The moon was lighting the steep hill and when we reached the top, we witnessed a beautiful moonset, almost together with sunrise opposite. First thing to do was getting rid of the wet clothes and change for dry ones. Around 10.00h a sort of rehearsal started for the afternoon program. Eight Tigers performed their shooting skills and a Hornet gave an excellent display. After this, the Super Pumas started bringing up the guests and VIPs by flying many many times up and down between Axalp and Interlaken. At 13.00h sharp the air show started off with a shivering low pass of the black and with coloured Mirage 3RS’. A voice on the speakers prepared us: this will be the last public appearance before these aircraft will retire after a service life of almost 35 years. The Swiss air force will never be the same… For the last time the Mirages performed an excellent demonstration. Afterwards again the F-5s showed their live firing capabilities followed by the stunning Hornet solo display. Another nice feature in this airpower display was the interception of two F-5s by two F/A-18s. This seems unfair and that is exactly what it was. The Tigers were completely overwhelmed by the Hornets, trying to escape from them by using flairs. But unfortunately, they were forced to land… This demo was followed by the choppers. A formation of two Super Pumas showed their abilities in extinguishing fires with large water bags as sling load. An alouette showed how to rescue people in mountain areas. Of course the display was concluded by a performance of the Patrouille Swiss.

What goes up must come down. That’s what we thought when the show ended. And with us, some 2000 others must have thought the same. Like in a polonaise we tried to get down again. What in the morning was a snow-covered mountain had been changed into a mud-covered mountain in the afternoon. Soaking wet and dirty we arrived at the car. After changing clothes again we drove down to Brienz were we had a nice pizza. With satisfied stomachs and a huge smile on our faces we drove home into the night.