Swiss Air Force Team Apologizes for Fly-By in Wrong Place
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Swiss Air Force Team Apologizes for Fly-By in Wrong Place
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/ar...in-wrong-place
BERLIN (AP) — The commander of the Swiss air force's aerial display team has apologized after his unit performed a low-altitude pass over the wrong municipality.
Residents of Langenbruck looked up in vain Saturday while expecting to see Switzerland's Patrouille Suisse squadron swoop by to mark the centenary of the death of local aviation pioneer Oskar Bider.
The team flew over nearby Muemliswil instead.
Switzerland's Defense Ministry said Monday that the formation hadn't practiced the maneuver and got distracted by an unauthorized helicopter in the area. The ministry says the team leader spotted what he thought was a tent for the Langenbruck celebration that turned out to be for a yodeling festival in Muemliswil.
The ministry said the Patrouille Suisse team's red and white F-5E Tiger II jets aren't equipped with GPS devices.
BERLIN (AP) — The commander of the Swiss air force's aerial display team has apologized after his unit performed a low-altitude pass over the wrong municipality.
Residents of Langenbruck looked up in vain Saturday while expecting to see Switzerland's Patrouille Suisse squadron swoop by to mark the centenary of the death of local aviation pioneer Oskar Bider.
The team flew over nearby Muemliswil instead.
Switzerland's Defense Ministry said Monday that the formation hadn't practiced the maneuver and got distracted by an unauthorized helicopter in the area. The ministry says the team leader spotted what he thought was a tent for the Langenbruck celebration that turned out to be for a yodeling festival in Muemliswil.
The ministry said the Patrouille Suisse team's red and white F-5E Tiger II jets aren't equipped with GPS devices.
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Would that be an unauthorised helicopter because they were in the wrong place and it was where it was meant to be.
Didn't a B1 or B52 make an approach and fly-past at Blackbushe a few years ago,rather than Farnborough as intended,before going back to the USA,from where it had departed ?
ex82watcher
Mentioned here on PPRuNe way back in 2004: B-52 bombs Blackbushe
...and in Flight Global here: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...-lucky-186086/
Didn't a B1 or B52 make an approach and fly-past at Blackbushe a few years ago,rather than Farnborough as intended,before going back to the USA,from where it had departed ?
...and in Flight Global here: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...-lucky-186086/
Last edited by Warmtoast; 8th Jul 2019 at 23:02.
The ministry said the Patrouille Suisse team's red and white F-5E Tiger II jets aren't equipped with GPS devices.
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Could happen to anyone............. didn't the USAF put on a B-52 display at Blackbushe instead of Farnborough one year?
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I recall a Dutch F-16 starting its Biggin display overhead Kenley - I think an absence of audience save a few startled Air Cadets plus some spluttering over the r/t drew him the few miles to Biggin after the first loop...
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Or the F111 that did a high speed pass down the wrong runway scaring the poo out of all the gliding activities going on
Cheese navigation
According CNN the Patrouille de Suisse just beat up a yodeling festival this weekend - should have been at an aviation function.
Holes in the cheese etc...
Holes in the cheese etc...
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The company I did my apprenticeship at, Flight Refuelling (now Cobham) had a similar incident in the 60s apparently. To celebrate some event (probably to do with an exploit of the founder, Sir Alan Cobham) the RAF were to carry out a flypast / small display over the Wimborne factory and all the employees came out onto the riverbank to watch at the arranged time. Some rumblings were heard in the distance and it appears the RAF had incorrectly turned up overhead the similar sized Hamworthy Engineering factory in Poole, some 6-7 miles to the south.
Word got round quickly of the RAF's "mishap" and the story has it Sir Alan phoned up a good friend of his at the Fleet Air Arm in Yeovilton and with the Senior Service keen to get one over the RAF, a pair of Sea Vixen's airborne in Lyme Bay quickly obliged and carried out the flypast and display. The event is mentioned in the book "In Cobham's Company" by Colin Cruddas with the note that one of the Vixen's flashed past so low there were visible strong ripples on the surface of the River Stour in front of the factory.
Word got round quickly of the RAF's "mishap" and the story has it Sir Alan phoned up a good friend of his at the Fleet Air Arm in Yeovilton and with the Senior Service keen to get one over the RAF, a pair of Sea Vixen's airborne in Lyme Bay quickly obliged and carried out the flypast and display. The event is mentioned in the book "In Cobham's Company" by Colin Cruddas with the note that one of the Vixen's flashed past so low there were visible strong ripples on the surface of the River Stour in front of the factory.
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That can happen when you have to fly visually and spot a large marquee with lots of people and car parked around. Not the first time this occur , albeit probably not for them before . Surprisingly they say they did not have someone on the ground to coordinate the slot and make sure no other aircraft is in the display box. We normally all do this . But according the Swiss press it was only a fly-over, not a full show.
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Who could blame them joinging a yodeling festival instead of a commemoration ceremony - I can't ;-)
Time for the squadron leader to get a privatly funded Garmin handheld or maybe wait until 2035 for a government sponsored onboard one
edit:
Maybe no tea and biscuits but sounds like there would have been some free beer available.
Time for the squadron leader to get a privatly funded Garmin handheld or maybe wait until 2035 for a government sponsored onboard one
edit:
Originally Posted by BBC
The yodel festival patrons are reported to have enjoyed the unexpected show.
Gentleman Aviator
One remembers in the early 70s at the Secret Hampshire Helicopter Base, we were expecting 845 NAS to arrive for some p*ssup or other (sorry - mutual exchange of views and tactics). Airfield waa clear for their arrival, as our RN exchange guys had promised "the Mother of all Beat Ups".
Shame we couldn't see it, but Lasham were very impressed apparently ...........
Shame we couldn't see it, but Lasham were very impressed apparently ...........
Red Faces
That can happen when you have to fly visually and spot a large marquee with lots of people and car parked around. Not the first time this occur , albeit probably not for them before . Surprisingly they say they did not have someone on the ground to coordinate the slot and make sure no other aircraft is in the display box. We normally all do this . But according the Swiss press it was only a fly-over, not a full show.
It happened to a formation consisting of a Victor K1A tanker, Sea Vixen and Buccaneer flying past at Bournemouth Airport to support Sir Alan Cobham's Flight Refuelling celebration. Great excitement as Tankers didn't do low level usually.
There had been a practice run the week before with another crew - mainly to practise the low level RV with the Navy jets. I was Copilot on this one too. We did it at over 500 ft but there were big nav problems on the run in to BOH as the H2S was pretty useless down there and the Plotter, facing rearwards with no window, had to rely on his NBS nav computer. My suggestion to use the backbeam from the ILS would have meant installing a non standard X-tal and was not taken up.... Fortunately we were high enough to see the RW and line up visually.
On the big day we had the following crew:
Captain, Copilot (me) Nav plotter, Nav radar, AEO and a further Nav plotter in the bomb-aimer's window Canberra trained, with a map. I also had a 1/4" map on the knee. What could possible go wrong? After the RV the boss decided we should get a bit lower to do the job, at which point the nose Nav could see below but not ahead, once again the H2S was vague and showed off to the Right and the NBS to the Left. From what I could see of ground clues we were a bit right of track. Plotter has to coordinate and decide. By this time the receivers are plugged in and no large heading changes can be made. Nose Nav suddenly identifies a roundabout (the wrong roundabout according my map) which confirms the Plotter in his belief that we are left and he gives a slight Hdg change right. We are too low to see the RW and go blasting over Bournemouth town a couple of miles or so south of the field.
At the subsequent Tea and Biccies the Captain was told that the crowd just saw the top of the fin and were not too impressed.
Just for fun here is a pic of the gaggle on the practice over the Dorset countriside just after the RV but before the run:
Last edited by bill fly; 9th Jul 2019 at 12:04. Reason: Just seen your post above Bonkey - there you go - from the horse's mouth...