The Flieger Flab Museum (English:

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army an ...

Museum) is located in the

Canton of Zurich Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

Dübendorf 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, Winter ...

on the grounds of Dübendorf Air Base. In the museum, 40 airplanes and

helicopters A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

are displayed, with the collection divided into distinct eras: pioneers and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the 1930s,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the postwar period, the beginning of the jet age, the development of jet fighters, the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

, and arms reduction.

History

The collection was founded in 1972 by the Office for Military Airfields and dedicated to the history of Swiss military aviation and air defense. In 1972–1978, the collection was turned over to the state by the Swiss Federal Office for military airfields. In 1978, for the first time, the public were able to contribute to the collection, which grew steadily over the next few years. Finally, in 1979, the Friends of the Museum of the Swiss air force (VFMF) was formed, initiated by Hans Giger, the Director of the Federal Office for military airfields. During the presidency of former Federal Councillor Rudolf Heinrich Friedrich between 1985 and 1988, the club built a new exhibition hall with the help of donations. This extension, a concrete-shell structure designed by engineer

Heinz Isler Heinz Isler (July 26, 1926 – June 20, 2009) was a Swiss structural engineer. He is famous for his thin concrete shells. Early life and education Heinz Isler was born in the municipality of Zollikon. He showed talent as an artist as a studen ...

, was inaugurated in 1988 by former Federal Councillor Arnold Koller. A year earlier, the federal government took over the financial responsibility for the operation of the museum. Ten years later, in 1997, the VFMF and the Association of Friends of flab (VF-flab) merged with the Friends of the Swiss Air Force AFL. In 2002, a new hall was opened.

Exhibits

Aircraft

* ADS-95 Ranger *

Alouette II Alouette or alouettes may refer to: Music and literature * "Alouette" (song), a French-language children's song * Alouette, a character in ''The King of Braves GaoGaiGar'' Aerospace * SNCASE Alouette, a utility helicopter developed in France i ...

Alouette III Alouette or alouettes may refer to: Music and literature * "Alouette" (song), a French-language children's song * Alouette, a character in ''The King of Braves GaoGaiGar'' Aerospace * SNCASE Alouette, a utility helicopter developed in France i ...

BAe Hawk The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and B ...

* Bücker Bü 131 * Bücker Bü 181 *

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft of the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most fa ...

* Dassault Mirage IIIS * Dassault Mirage IIIRS * De Havilland Vampire DH.100 * De Havilland Vampire DH.115 Trainer * de Havilland Venom DH-112 * de Havilland Venom DH-112 reconnaissance version * N-20.2 Arbalète * N-20.10 Aiguillon *

EKW C-36 The EKW C-36 was a Swiss multi-purpose combat aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s, built by the Eidgenoessische Konstruktionswerkstaette. It was a single-engined monoplane with a crew of two. It entered service during World War II in 1942, and desp ...

C-3603 *

FFA P-16 The FFA P-16 was a Swiss prototype ground attack jet fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein (FFA). It was Switzerland's second attempt to develop a domestically designed and manufactured jet f ...

Fieseler Fi 156 Storch The Fieseler Fi 156 ''Storch'' (, " stork") was a German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It was notable for its excellent short f ...

Hanriot HD.1 The Hanriot HD.1 was a French World War I single-seat fighter aircraft. Rejected for service with French squadrons in favour of the SPAD S.VII, the type was supplied to the Belgian Army′s (Belgian Military Aviation) and the (Military Aviat ...

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Ro ...

F.Mk.58 and T.Mk.68 * Hiller UH-12B *

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

Messerschmitt Bf 108 The Messerschmitt Bf 108 ''Taifun'' (English: "Typhoon") was a German single-engine sport and touring aircraft, developed by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in the 1930s. The Bf 108 was of all-metal construction. Design and development Originally desi ...

-B Taifun * Morane-Saulnier D-3800 *

North American P-51D Mustang Over twenty variants of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter were produced from 1940, when it first flew, to after World War II, some of which were employed also in the Korean War and in several other conflicts. Allison-engined Mustangs N ...

Nieuport 28 The Nieuport 28 C.1, a French biplane fighter aircraft flown during World War I, was built by Nieuport and designed by Gustave Delage. Owing its lineage to the successful line of sesquiplane fighters that included the Nieuport 17, the Nie ...

Northrop F-5 The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and t ...

E erected in front of museum in

Patrouille Suisse The Patrouille Suisse is an aerobatic team of the Swiss Air Force. The team flies six Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighter/bomber jets. History The Patrouille Suisse was founded on August 22, 1964 with four Hawker Hunters. Two displays were also f ...

paint *

E in standard gray paint on loan from the Air Force *

F in standard gray paint on loan from the Air Force * Pilatus P-2 *

Pilatus P-3 The Pilatus P-3 was a military training aircraft built by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal ins ...

Pilatus PC-7 Turbo trainer The Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer is a low-wing tandem-seat training aircraft designed and manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. The aircraft is capable of all basic training functions including aerobatics, instrument, tactical and ni ...

Pilatus PC-9 The Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Designed as a more powerful evolution of the Pilatus PC-7, the PC-9's first flight was made in May 1984 after ...

* Rockwell Grand Commander 680FL

Simulators

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

-222 cockpit section * Dassault Mirage IIIDS * Dassault Mirage IIIS *

F/A-18 The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part ...

C *

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...

-338 cockpit section (May 2017)

Other exhibits

* Bristol BL-64 Bloodhound * Fire control radar Mark VII * FLORIDA Airspace monitoring and management system * Flt Gt63 /69' Super Fledermaus *

LGR-1 Radar The LGR-1 (Lightweight Ground Radar 1) was used by Swiss Air Force from 1948 until 1955 for positioning the planned radar air surveillance system. It is now in the Flieger-Flab-Museum at Dübendorf. History This radar of the first generation of ...

* Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon *

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models em ...

RSA Missile The RSA is one of the earliest surface-to-air missiles systems, developed by the Swiss companies Oerlikon-Bührle and Contraves starting in 1947. The missile went through a rapid development process with several upgraded versions, and was the fi ...

* RSE Kriens (Missile) *

Saurer M6 The Saurer M6 (also called Saurer M6 M) is a 6x6 truck model, which established the Adolph Saurer AG in 1940. The payload of 2.5 tons. The Swiss Army ordered 338 Saurer M6s in 1940; an additional 16 came with solid construction as radio trucks. A ...

radio truck *

SRF Airspace monitoring and management system The SFR Airspace monitoring and management system was the first Airspace monitoring and management system of the Swiss Air Force. History After the second world war it became apparent that the rapid development of air defense of Switzerland wi ...

Target allocation radar TPS-1E The Target allocation radar TPS-1E (German:Zielzuweisungsradar TPS-1E (ZZR)) is an omnidirectional pulse radar device. It was used from 1958 until 1989 by the Swiss Air Force. It was also used by German army (''Heer'') air defence reconnaissance p ...

References

External links

*
Tailnumbers of all aircraft of the Swiss Air Force
(German only) {{Authority control Aerospace museums in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Zürich Swiss Air Force Military and war museums in Switzerland