BFK (Swiss Air Force)
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BFK (Swiss Air Force)
The ''Berufsfliegerkorps'' (BFK) (, , ) are the professional pilots of the Swiss Air Force. History In the early 20th century, Swiss military pilots were usually militia soldiers. During the Second World War there was a need for a permanent, professional association to maintain Swiss neutrality. On 4 April 1941, the Federal Council decided to create the '' Überwachungsgeschwader'' ("Surveillance Squadron"). The ''Überwachungsgeschwader'' was disbanded at the end of 2005 and its personnel transferred to the ''Berufsfliegerkorps''. The command of the BFK is on the Dübendorf Air Base, at which today no combat aircraft are stationed. The display teams ''Patrouille Suisse The Patrouille Suisse is an aerobatic team of the Swiss Air Force. The team flies six Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighter jets. History The Patrouille Suisse was founded on 22 August 1964 with four Hawker Hunters. Two displays were also flown 19 ...'', Hornet Solodisplay, Superpuma Display and PC-7 Team ar ...
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Swiss Air Force
The Swiss Air Force (; ; ; ) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914, three days after the outbreak of World War I, as a part of the Swiss Army, army and in October 1936 as an independent service. In peacetime, Dübendorf is the operational air force headquarters. The Swiss Air Force operates from several fixed bases (see current status) but its personnel are also trained to carry out air operations from temporary highway airstrips. In case of crisis or war, several stretches of road are specially prepared for this option. History Early years The first military aviation in Switzerland took the form of Balloon (aeronautics), balloon transport, pioneered by Swiss balloonist Eduard Spelterini, but by 1914 there was still little official support for an air corps. The outbreak of World War I changed opinions drastically and cavalry officer Theodor Real was charged with forming a flying corps. He commandeered three civilian aircraft at Bern's air ...
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Dübendorf Air Base
Dübendorf Air Base () was a military airfield of the Swiss Air Force northeast of Dübendorf in Switzerland, located east of Zürich. It includes the Flieger-Flab-Museum. History The search for a suitable site for an airfield started in 1909. On 1 August 1910 improvement of the swamp started and on 22 October 1910 the first airshow was held on the Airfield Dübendorf. Since 1914, Dübendorf has been used as an air base by the Swiss Air Force. From 1919 on Dübendorf was also an airport for civil airlines, first for the predecessor of Swissair, the Ad Astra Aero, and from 1932 on for Swissair. During World War II there was virtually no civil flying activity. Any foreign military aircraft that was interned by Switzerland was held at Dübendorf, including about 120 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers, together with one Luftwaffe Me 262 jet fighter. From 1943, Switzerland shot down USAAF and Royal Air Force aircraft, mainly bomb ...
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Dübendorf (Wangen Brüttisellen) - Flugplatz - Ehemaliges Aufnahmegebäude Zivilflugplatz, Dübendorfstrasse 2011-09-01 14-48-44
Dübendorf is a municipality in the district of Uster in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is a suburb of Zürich in Switzerland with a population of about 30,000 (2021). It is the fourth largest city in the canton, after Zürich, Winterthur, and Uster. History Artifacts have been discovered in the Dübendorf municipality, with the earliest dating back to prehistoric times. These include isolated relics from the Stone and Bronze Ages, as well as known burial sites. However, the original graves have been destroyed, leaving only the grave goods, which are estimated to be from approximately 1400 to 700 BCE. Dübendorf is first mentioned in 946 as ''Tuobilindorf''. In the 8th century, it is likely that the village and the church were already under the ownership of the Reichenau Abby situated on Lake Constance. This monastery held a significant position as the primary landowner in Dübendorf for an extended period and also wielded legal authority. Additionally, there is evid ...
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Militia
A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or serve as a pool of available manpower for regular forces to draw from. When acting independently, militias are generally unable to hold ground against regular forces. Militias commonly support regular troops by skirmishing, holding fortifications, or conducting irregular warfare, instead of undertaking offensive campaigns by themselves. However, militias may also engage in defense activities to protect a community, its territory, property, and laws. For example, naval militias may comprise fishermen and other civilians which are organized and sanctioned by a state to enforce its maritime boundaries. Beginning in the late 20th century, some militias (in particular officially recognized and sanctioned militias of a government) act as profe ...
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Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ...
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Swiss Neutrality
One of the main principles of Switzerland's foreign policy is that Switzerland is not to be involved in armed conflicts between other states. This policy is self-imposed and designed to ensure external security and promote peace. Switzerland has the oldest policy of military neutrality in the world; it has not participated in a foreign war since its neutrality was established by the Treaty of Paris in 1815. However, the country did have a civil war in 1847. Although the European powers (Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Spain and Sweden) agreed at the Congress of Vienna in May 1815 that Switzerland should be neutral, final ratification was delayed until after Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated so that some coalition forces could invade France via Swiss territory. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation; it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815 apart from the Sonderbund War (Switzerland civil ...
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Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand coalition government composed of representatives of the country's major parties and language regions. While the entire Federal Council is responsible for leading the federal administration of Switzerland, each Councillor heads one of the seven federal executive departments. The president of the Swiss Confederation chairs the council, but exercises no particular authority; rather, the position is one of a first among equals and rotates among the seven Councillors annually. The Federal Council is elected as a body by the 246 members of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland for a term of four years after each federal parliamentary election, without the possibility of recall or a vote of no confidence. Incumbents are not term-limited a ...
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Überwachungsgeschwader
The (UeG) (, , ) was the overall unit of the Swiss Air Force professional pilots. History In the 20th century, Swiss military pilots were fundamentally militia soldiers. On April 4, 1941, the Federal Council decided to create the Überwachungsgeschwader. Those pilots also served as flight instructors for new pilots. From 1966 the UeG operated the Militär-Helikopter-Rettungsdienst (military helicopter rescue service) as a supplement to the civilian SAR. The surveillance squadron had its headquarters on the Dübendorf Air Base Dübendorf Air Base () was a military airfield of the Swiss Air Force northeast of Dübendorf in Switzerland, located east of Zürich. It includes the Flieger-Flab-Museum. History The search for a suitable site for an airfield started in 190 ... and had disbanded by the end of 2005. See also * Flieger-Flab-Museum References External links Flieger-Flab Museum* Daniel A. Furrer: ''60 Jahre Ueberwachungsgeschwader.'' Säntis Medien, Herisa ...
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Patrouille Suisse
The Patrouille Suisse is an aerobatic team of the Swiss Air Force. The team flies six Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighter jets. History The Patrouille Suisse was founded on 22 August 1964 with four Hawker Hunters. Two displays were also flown 1968 with the Dassault Mirage III under the name "Patrouille de Suisse Mirage". Other than those shows the Patrouille Suisse retained the Hunter. In 1970, a fifth aircraft was added to the team, followed by the sixth shortly thereafter. In 1977 a smoke system was introduced. The Patrouille Suisse flew its Hawker Hunters for the last time in 1994 and transitioned to the faster and more maneuverable Northrop F-5E Tiger II adding smoke systems in 1996. In April the following year, a Pilatus PC-6 Porter single-engine turboprop light aircraft was assigned as a support aircraft, painted in the team's colour scheme. In February 2013, the Swiss Minister of Defence, Ueli Maurer, stated that the Patrouille Suisse would be disbanded by early 2016 du ...
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PC-7 Team
The PC-7 Team is an aerobatics team of the Swiss Air Force. It derives its name from the Pilatus PC-7 trainer, the team's primary aircraft. History Soon after the PC-7 was introduced in 1982, the Swiss Air Force started to present the new airplane in solo displays. The first public team display was in 1987, performed by an ad-hoc team of nine volunteer pilots. When the Swiss Air Force celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1989, the PC-7 Team was officially established. Since then, it has been performing in Switzerland several times a year, and since 1992 also occasionally abroad. Since its establishment the team has flown the Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer. In October 2006, it was replaced by the NCPC-7, which is a PC-7 equipped with a new cockpit. The PC-7 Team currently flies nine Pilatus PC-7 in the standard configuration of the Swiss Air Force's PC-7. The PC-7 Team still uses the unique Swiss Air Force Bambini-Code for its radio communication. The PC-7 Team's homebase is Düb ...
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Flieger-Flab-Museum
The Flieger Flab Museum (English: Swiss Air Force Museum) is located in the Canton of Zurich in Dübendorf on the grounds of Dübendorf Air Base. In the museum, 40 airplanes and helicopters are displayed, with the collection divided into distinct eras: pioneers and World War I, the 1930s, World War II and the postwar period, the beginning of the jet age, the development of jet fighters, the Cold War, and arms reduction. History Prehistory For many years, decommissioned aircraft from the Air Force were scrapped due to lack of space, with only a few individual parts such as engines, instruments, weapons and propellers being kept. Parts of foreign aircraft that landed in Switzerland during the Second World War, especially engines, were also kept at various departments. However, entire aircraft were usually not preserved until 1965. During the Second World War, however, a depot was set up in Schadau Castle in which historical material was collected for a possible but never reali ...
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Dübendorf
Dübendorf is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Uster (district), Uster in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zürich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. It is a suburb of Zürich in Switzerland with a population of about 30,000 (2021). It is the fourth largest city in the canton, after Zürich, Winterthur, and Uster. History Artifacts have been discovered in the Dübendorf municipality, with the earliest dating back to prehistoric times. These include isolated relics from the Stone Age, Stone and Bronze Ages, as well as known burial sites. However, the original graves have been destroyed, leaving only the grave goods, which are estimated to be from approximately 1400 to 700 BCE. Dübendorf is first mentioned in 946 as ''Tuobilindorf''. In the 8th century, it is likely that the village and the church were already under the ownership of the Reichenau Abbey, Reichenau Abby situated on Lake Constance. This monastery held a significant position as th ...
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