Swiss Venoms and Hunters
 

Bit overboard on the synthwave soundtrack but some beautiful footage.

Great film.

The first scene reminded me a bit of Thunderbirds. I was expecting the trees to tilt back and a Hunter to take off down the road.

Superb flying shots near the end. I'm surprised it was shot in 1964 - the images are so clear. Especially compared to some of the ropey youtube vids of the "12 Squadron Buccaneers" film with the Vangelis track.

I quite like the music too, though not very 1960's.

No-one invades Switzerland because every badass rogue despotic leader who could think about it will have a pot of gold stashed there in an unmarked account and wouldn’t like anything to happen to it!

The music at the beginning does sound a bit Thunderbird'ish.

Cracking film, some impressive strafing from the Hunters.

Looking at the film, is the flame thrower still a weapon that would be used today?

I liked the helmets the troops were wearing. A cross between the Wehrmacht, Star Wars and the current US helmet. In fact the scene with the ski troops could have been lost footage from "The Empire Strikes Back".

Here's the much longer original.
Kicks off at 5:30 on the timeline...
Really beautiful footage.

And not a knife in sight.......

Back in the 70s I flew a Cessna 172 for a parachute club in between attempting to attend university. One of the occasional sky divers was a Swiss jeweller. A very nice chap that I became quite pally albeit like a lot of pilot friendships lost touch with over time. He was also a weekend Hunter pilot for the Swiss Air Force plus summer camps. I was quite jealous, what a great system!

A lot of the film looks like it could be in Star Wars. The Dam Busters and 633 Squadron are often referred to as inspiration for the attack on the death star. But the whole look of the various uniforms, the terrain and the flying scenes are so similar to Star Wars I wouldn't be surprised if George Lucas had seen this.

The cinematography is brilliant too - so clear. I'd be interested in seeing how they filmed the flying scenes.

The longer version that's been posted is very intriguing too. The initial bit is very psychedelic. Overall, a it's a weirdly brilliant film.

One of the comments on the YouTube video was "Flamethrowers? You don't have to obey the Geneva Convention when you have to actually defend Geneva."

I have a Swiss passport by accident of birth but I happened to be in Zurich many years later on business and came down with tooth / gum infection. The dentist in Zurich who examined me had a picture of a Mirage jet doing a take off roll down a road, under a bridge which he said he was flying. Not sure if he was “correct” but appeared to know a lot about flying from limited time and conversation. If so quite a picture.
Cheers
Mr Mac

The Swiss Air Force had a Hunter display team - the Patrouille Swiss - who visited the UK in the late eighties or nineties.
The RAF had its own Hunter Display team the Black Arrows. Video attached

Can't find one for the Swiss team but from pictures its notable that the Swiss display with underwing tanks unlike the Black Arrows.. Any answers why out there???

Cracking video - 8+ Hunters in finger four formations down a valley certainly makes a singleton Typhoon through the Mach Loop seem a bit pedestrian!

Always though Swiss AF guys had a dream job when I used to see them flying over the top of ski resorts as I sat on the chair lifts on the way up.

They did, and put on a very polished performance straight after the MiG collision at RIAT 93. They were sat at the holding point underneath when the collision occurred. Excellent stuff.

Excellent film. Not only Hunters and Venoms, but Land Rovers and Centurians as well!

There you go...