Swiss Repitition Course, Sion

[Kevin Martin]

Last week completed a busy few days for me with a visit to Switzerland for the Cour’s de repetition, a 3 week period of intensive flying training at the beautiful air base at Sion. With snow still on the mountains you would be forgiven for expecting cold weather but the weather turned out to be glorious and warm for the duration of the week.

At the end of this thread there are also a handful of photo’s taken in Bulgaria the week before, but as I’ve not had time to sort through them yet I tagged them on the end of here.

Thanks for the company to all the Swiss, Belgian and Italian guts I met around the fence.

Hope you enjoy and comments/discussion welcome…..

Kevin
http://www.flickr.com/kevinmartin1/sets





Last flights of the day at Sion by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Day 3 2 094 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Day2 3 030 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr




Day2 2 308 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Swiss AF Beech 400 leaving Sion by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Hornet mountain top departure by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



F-5 Tiger low take off by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Swiss Hornet returning to box by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



PC-7 turning over Sion by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Leaving the Box by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Hornet climbing at Sion by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Day 3 2 202 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Hornet turning of runway 07 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr




During my stay in Switzerland I also made a visit to Alpnach helicopter transport base and the nearby Pilatus factory at Stans where they are currently underway building PC-21’s for the UAE airforce.



UAE PC-21 128 at Stans by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



UAE PC-21 129 test flights at Stans by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



UAE PC-21 crossing the road at Stans by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Maybe a civvie but I suppose it is the aircraft used to sell military contracts…..


PC-9 Company demonstrator at Stans by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr


A few at Alpnach where viewing was somewhat restricted due to an Army Bridge building exercise being carried out where I really wanted to be….


Swiss EC635 over Alpnach by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Swiss Cougar at Alpnach by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr


Day1 1 215 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr


This Mirage III is in a service station near to Payerne


Mirage III @ Motorway rest stop nr Payerne AFB by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



And back to Sion for some more Tigers and Hornets……



Day2 2 173 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Day 4 1 020 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Hornet Head On by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



F-5 Two-seat departure by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr




F-18's Combat Patrol over Sion by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr


Day 3 1 100 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Swiss F-5 Tigers launching from Son by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr


Landing for lunch by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr


F-18D Morning launch by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr


And finally to finish, and completely unrelated to the above some Bulgarian Migs taken at the Graf Ignatievo open house a few days prior the Swiss trip. I’ve a lot of catching up to do so didn’t want to start a new thread for a handful of pics…….


Bulgarian Mig 29 3 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Bulgarian Mig 21 1 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr



Bulgarian Mig 29 2 by Kevin Martin 1, on Flickr


Thanks for looking , and feel free to comment/discuss etc…..

Kevin

http://www.flickr.com/kevinmartin1/sets

[pjotrtje]

Just LOVE the Swiss pics, especially "Hornet Mountain Top Departure" and "Hornet Climbing at Sion"! Good job!

[tomba2247]

WOW

[ZeroOtto]

WOW

nice!!

[wild weasel]

Brilliant shots kevin, don't know which to pick for my favorite. You had an invitation to visit this swiss airbase, or is all this taken along side the fence? Judging on picture number 10, i would swear this is taken from within the fence...

Anyways, thanks for sharing with us!

Greets Menno

[Triple Nickel]

Nice!!!

Like the pilatus pics and the CAP F-18's!

Didn't know a mig-29 can be used a rally-car also...

Gr. Ron

[TAZZ]

Wow!!!

What a FAN-TAS-TIC photo report!

Thanks for sharing these wonderful pics!

[bvdboomen]

Great series! I would like to see the pictures to be numbered so we can commend easier. I love the portrait style picture of the Hornet with the castle most.

[Stratofreighter]

A joy to watch!

And the Bulgarian Mig-29 pic shows what "wet runway tests" are for. For these kinds of conditions.

Those intake grates/inlet doors come in handy then.

[doncorleone117]

Wonderful pics Kevin ! Nice to meet you in Sion.

Regards Don

PS: Check PM

[amarx]

Great shots Kevin!!!
I really love your first shot the most...

[Maarten]

Great report Kevin.
Some very nice and different angles!!

Greetings,
Maarten Uittenbogaard

[Wim]

wow awesome pictures. Were all pictures at Sion taken from outside the base?

[Kevin Martin]

Hi Menno, Wim

All the pictures were taken from the outside of the base. The fence at Sion is a pain but I used a combination of discarded pallets, drinks crates from my hotel and some discarded building materials handily left next to the fence at the 07 end to get some of the shots!

Thanks very much to all for the kind comments too.....

Kevin

[wild weasel]

Hahaha, well kevin, i have a mental picture now, you standing on top of all that rubbish , But seriously, all your efforts payed off big time

Think you would really need a big size ladder, to achieve the hight you were standing, not something you will take with when you go to zwisterland for some spotting at Sion

Kind regards

Menno

Hi Menno, Wim

All the pictures were taken from the outside of the base. The fence at Sion is a pain but I used a combination of discarded pallets, drinks crates from my hotel and some discarded building materials handily left next to the fence at the 07 end to get some of the shots!

Thanks very much to all for the kind comments too.....

Kevin