Fliegerstaffel 15

Fliegerstaffel 15
15ème Escadrille
Squadriglia d'aviazione 17

Papyrus Hawker Hunter of Fl St 15
Active 1925–1994
Country Switzerland
Branch Swiss Air Force
Role Fighter squadron
Garrison/HQ airfield St. Stephan
The Fliegrstaffel 15 Badge on the Hunter J-4080.

The Fliegerstaffel 15 (Fightersquadron 5) of the Swiss Air Force was last equipped with Hawker Hunter aircraft. The home base of the Fliegerstaffel 15 base was at the time of the dissolution the airfield St. Stephan. The Fliegerstaffel 15 carried as a coat of arms a paper flyer on a blue ground with a red "15" above the paper flyer. The old badge of the FlSt15 was a black bird of prey with white background and two red circles.

History

In 1925 the "Fliegerkompanie 15" was founded, which was equipped with Dewoitine D-27 until 1939. After that the ‘’fifteen’er ‘’ used from 1939 to 1941 the Messerschmitt Me 109D with Payerne Air Base as homebase. With the same type of aircraft, the Messerschmitt Me 109D but also version E, the Fliegerstaffel 15 was operating from 1941 to 1947 from Biel-Bözingen. In 1945, during a reorganization, the Flying Staff of the Fliegerkompanie 15 was transferred to the newly created Fliegerstaffel 15, and from 1952 onwards, the crew flew with the Morane D-3801 from the St. Stephan military airfield. Only three years later the change to the jet aircraft De Havilland D.H. 100 vampires, and in the same year De Havilland D.H. 112 Venom was done. From 1980 to 1994 the Fliegerstaffel 15 continued to use the Hawker Hunter from St. Stephan. In 1994, the Hawker Hunter was put out of active service in the Swiss Air Force. The military airfield St. Stephan was handed over to civilian users, and the Fliegerstaffel 15 was disbanded.

The Fliegerstaffel 15 had as a squadron car a blue Citroën 2CV which carried on both sides the coat of armsof the Fliegerstaffel 15. In the autumn of 1994 the Hawker Hunter J-4040 received a special painting for the farewell. The airplane received a white basic color and the names of the pilots as well as text Fliegerstaffel 15 in black letters in newspaper style, in reference to the symbol of the paper flyer. The addition tanks also received this coating. The registration was changed from J-4040 to J-4015 (because of the Fliegerstaffel “15”), although the Luftwaffe operated another Hunter with the registration J-4015 at the same time. The Hunter with the original registration J-4015 was decorated in September 94 as Graffity Hunter for the Fliegerstaffel 20. The aircraft was named Papyrus-Hunter. Originally, the "Papyrus Hunter" was to be placed on a pedestal at the entrance to the St. Stephan airfield, but the Hunterverein Obersimmenthal managed to keep the aircraft airworthy until today with the civilian Aircraft registrationHB -RVS and performing with it display flights at airshows.

Airplanes

References

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