Everybody knows the Hawker Hunter Fighter Jet/Fighter Bomber Aircraft in Switzerland. The Hawker Hunter has been in service with the Swis Air Force as long as 1994! The Hunter has a lot of fans in Switzerland up to today, and a couple of former Swiss Air Force Hunters are still flying in Switzerland today. One of the well known and popular Hunters is the single seat “Papyrus Hunter” who looks like a Newspaper. But there are also two seaters available for Hawker Hunter Flights in Switzerland. At the moment, Switzerland is the only place to fly Hunters – since the end of Thunder City in 2010. British Hunters are single seaters or lack airworthiness at the moment.
Hawker Hunter Flight in the mountains
And for sure the Swiss Hunter Flights is unbeatable. Switzerland is probably the best place on earth for a military aircraft flight. The Topography with the fantastic mountains, valleys and glaciers is just unbeatable – and the Former Swiss Air Force pilots that fly the Hunters know the places very well. Have a look at this fantastic but rather old video to see what is possible in Switzerland:
By the way: Today the jet fighters have HD recording, so the result would be much better.
Flights from Former Mountain Airbases: St. Stephan and Ambri
Takeoff and Landing itself are an adventure. October 12th, 2011, we had a former US Navy pilot flying in the Hunter, from Ambri airbase. He was used to land on aircraft carriers but was very impressed by the landing in the very narrow valley. After the flight he said he probably couldn’t land his aircraft in such a place without much training before. The Swiss Hunter pilots said the rather couldn’t imagine landing on an aircraft carrier.
Ambri is a particularly interesting place. Swiss Military Aircraft have been stored in the mountains nearby. We are frequently asked by customers from UK and the US if this is a fairy tale. It is not! It can be seen in Ambri and other places. There is a ramp down to a tunnel which leads under the motorway and into the mountain behind: The aircraft storage facilities in Ambri inside the mountain ridge are empty but still available. This places mountains storages are not used for the F/A-18 Hornet as the aircraft is to large, but there are still F-5E Tiger Aircraft stored in mountains today.
Our US Navy Pilot took a video from his Hawker Hunter landing in Ambri. Very sporty landing and watch for that car crossing!
This video has been filmed on October 12th, 2011.
The black-yellow Tiger Hunter
We have often been asked why the Hunter Team painted the Hunter in a black-yellow tiger painting in 2009. I personally prefer camo paintings for all former military aircraft. Fantasy paintings are just not authentic. However, the tiger painting is not really a fantasy painting but has a historical background. One night Swiss fighter pilot students painted a hunter in black and yellow tiger design, a joke their instuctors didn’t find so funny.
Todays painting is an exact remake from old photos.
Hawker Hunter flight dates are always out in January/February. Usually flights start in June and end in October. The best locations are St. Stephan and the new location in Ambri.
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