The airfield is situated in the steep-sided alpine valley of the Aar river, with its single runway parallel to the river. It is flanked to the north by the main road to Meiringen, the river, and the Brünig railway line. To the south, taxiways connect the airfield to aircraft caverns built within the valley side.[1]
Meiringen Air Base started operations on 1 December 1941.[2] The base played an important role in the 1946 C-53 Skytrooper crash on the Gauli Glacier: the rescue operation was launched and coordinated by the Meiringen air base.[3] The rescue of persons on a glacier with airplanes had never been done before. After World War II, an aircraft cavern was built in Meiringen. In the 1970 years the construction of another cavern tunnel was started for the A-7G Corsair II, but because the A-7G was not bought, this construction was completed as an ammunition storage cavern.[4] With the introduction of the F/A-18 Hornet the aircraft cavern was rebuilt again and received another tunnel so the aircraft can go straight in and out at the same time. In the inside maneuvering without crane is now possible.[5]
The airfield of Meiringen is still important for the Swiss Air Force. With the closure of Sion Air Base in 2016, it will be one of only three fighter bases, along with Payerne Air Base and Emmen Air Base. It is the home base to two fighter squadrons, militia Squadron 8 "Destructors", equipped with the Northrop F-5E Tiger, and Berufsfliegerkorps (professional) Fliegerstaffel 11, equipped with the F/A-18 Hornet.[8][9]
Meiringen is the only Swiss airbase that uses an aircraft cavern in daily operations. The runway is equipped with retractable arresting gear devices (used by the F/A-18 and in emergencies by the F-5) at both ends.[10]
The operation of the aerodrome has for the region and the town of Meiringen, both positive and negative effects: noise emissions by the military jets is for the affected population as well as for tourism businesses. The airfield is, however, with some 190 labor and 25 training places an important economic factor for the region.[11][12] The airfield has a small museum that is open on Wednesday afternoons from May to October; different pieces of equipment are exhibited as well as an Aérospatiale Alouette III and an F-5 Tiger.[13]
^"Permanenter Schutz für F/A-18". 23 October 2003. from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^. Archived from the original on 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2014-09-15.
^. Archived from the original on 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
^ [Squadron 8] (in German). Swiss Air Force. Archived from the original on 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2014-09-15.
^ [Squadron 11] (in German). Swiss Air Force. Archived from the original on 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2014-09-15.
^(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2013-06-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) From page22 on
^ (in German). Swiss Air Force. Archived from the original on 2014-10-08. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
^(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-14. Retrieved 2016-06-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^. Swiss Armed Forces. Archived from the original on 2023-04-01. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
^"Kommentar zum Fall Meiringen – Die Gefahr chinesischer Spionage ist real". Berner Zeitung (in German). 2023-12-21. from the original on 2023-12-23. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
[3] YouTube Informationsclip about Meiringen Air Base (English).
[4] YouTube Informationsclip about Meiringen AFB and Axalp shooting (German)
January 01, 1970
meiringen, base, also, known, unterbach, military, airfield, swiss, military, airbase, located, near, hamlet, unterbach, town, meiringen, canton, bern, three, main, airbases, swiss, force, meiringen, base, viewed, from, rothorniata, noneicao, lsmmsummaryairpor. Meiringen Air Base also known as the Unterbach Military Airfield is a Swiss military airbase located near the hamlet of Unterbach and the town of Meiringen in the canton of Bern It is one of three main airbases of the Swiss Air Force Meiringen Air BaseMeiringen air base viewed from the RothornIATA noneICAO LSMMSummaryAirport typeMilitaryServesMeiringenOccupantsSwiss Air ForceCoordinates46 44 25 N 8 6 36 E 46 74028 N 8 11000 E 46 74028 8 11000MapLSMMLocation in Switzerland The airfield is situated in the steep sided alpine valley of the Aar river with its single runway parallel to the river It is flanked to the north by the main road to Meiringen the river and the Brunig railway line To the south taxiways connect the airfield to aircraft caverns built within the valley side 1 Contents 1 History 2 Today 3 References 4 External linksHistory editMeiringen Air Base started operations on 1 December 1941 2 The base played an important role in the 1946 C 53 Skytrooper crash on the Gauli Glacier the rescue operation was launched and coordinated by the Meiringen air base 3 The rescue of persons on a glacier with airplanes had never been done before After World War II an aircraft cavern was built in Meiringen In the 1970 years the construction of another cavern tunnel was started for the A 7G Corsair II but because the A 7G was not bought this construction was completed as an ammunition storage cavern 4 With the introduction of the F A 18 Hornet the aircraft cavern was rebuilt again and received another tunnel so the aircraft can go straight in and out at the same time In the inside maneuvering without crane is now possible 5 In 2004 militia Squadron 8 Destructors equipped with the F 5E Tiger moved to Meiringen from Buochs Airport In 2007 professional Fliegerstaffel 11 Fighter Squadron 11 Tigers equipped with the F A 18 moved from Dubendorf Air Base 6 7 Today editThe airfield of Meiringen is still important for the Swiss Air Force With the closure of Sion Air Base in 2016 it will be one of only three fighter bases along with Payerne Air Base and Emmen Air Base It is the home base to two fighter squadrons militia Squadron 8 Destructors equipped with the Northrop F 5E Tiger and Berufsfliegerkorps professional Fliegerstaffel 11 equipped with the F A 18 Hornet 8 9 Meiringen is the only Swiss airbase that uses an aircraft cavern in daily operations The runway is equipped with retractable arresting gear devices used by the F A 18 and in emergencies by the F 5 at both ends 10 The operation of the aerodrome has for the region and the town of Meiringen both positive and negative effects noise emissions by the military jets is for the affected population as well as for tourism businesses The airfield is however with some 190 labor and 25 training places an important economic factor for the region 11 12 The airfield has a small museum that is open on Wednesday afternoons from May to October different pieces of equipment are exhibited as well as an Aerospatiale Alouette III and an F 5 Tiger 13 In 2023 a private inn overlooking the air base was raided by the authorities on suspicions of harboring a Chinese intelligence operation 14 15 References edit Flugplatz Meiringen 3857 Meiringen Switzerland Archived from the original on 2023 09 02 Retrieved 2016 06 30 Flugplatzkommando Meiringen Meiringen air base command in German Swiss Air Force Archived from the original on 2014 10 08 Retrieved 2014 09 15 Der Flugzeugabsturz auf dem Gauligletscher Archived from the original on 2016 08 16 Retrieved 2016 06 30 Maurer et al 2013 p 245 Permanenter Schutz fur F A 18 23 October 2003 Archived from the original on 2 September 2023 Retrieved 30 June 2016 Fliegerstaffel 11 Archived from the original on 2016 05 09 Retrieved 2014 09 15 Fliegerstaffel 8 Archived from the original on 2016 05 09 Retrieved 2016 05 09 Fliegerstaffel 8 Squadron 8 in German Swiss Air Force Archived from the original on 2016 05 09 Retrieved 2014 09 15 Fliegerstaffel 11 Squadron 11 in German Swiss Air Force Archived from the original on 2016 05 09 Retrieved 2014 09 15 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2012 07 22 Retrieved 2013 06 23 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link From page22 on Flugplatzkommando Meiringen Unterbach in German Swiss Air Force Archived from the original on 2014 10 08 Retrieved 2014 07 10 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2016 08 14 Retrieved 2016 06 30 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Meiringen Air Base Swiss Armed Forces Archived from the original on 2023 04 01 Retrieved 2023 10 04 Kommentar zum Fall Meiringen Die Gefahr chinesischer Spionage ist real Berner Zeitung in German 2023 12 21 Archived from the original on 2023 12 23 Retrieved 2023 12 24 Meiringen Chinesische Wirte sollen Militarflugplatz ausspioniert haben 20 Minuten in German 2023 12 22 Retrieved 2023 12 25 External links edit nbsp Media related to Meiringen air base at Wikimedia Commons External imagegraph of the cavern layout nbsp graph of the cavern layout 1 Official page Militarflugplatz Meiringen 2 Private page Interessensgemeinschaft Flugplatz Meiringen German 3 YouTube Informationsclip about Meiringen Air Base English 4 YouTube Informationsclip about Meiringen AFB and Axalp shooting German Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Meiringen Air Base amp oldid 1191808809, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
