Fliegerstaffel 17

Fliegerstaffel 17 17ème Escadrille Squadriglia d'aviazione 17
F/A-18C J-5017 of the Fliegerstaffel 17 Falcons
Active	1925-today
Country	Switzerland
Branch	Swiss Air Force
Role	Fighter squadron
Garrison/HQ	Payerne Air Base

Fliegerstaffel 17 (No. 17 Squadron) "Falcons" of the Swiss Air Force is a Berufsfliegerkorps squadron of professional pilots flying McDonnell Douglas F/A-18. Together with Fliegerstaffel 6 it forms Fliegergeschwader 11. The home base of the squadron is Payerne Air Base. Fliegerstaffel 17 features a red falcon on a white ground with the black number 17 as its coat of arms.

History

[[File:|thumb|The aircraft J-5017 of the Fliegerstaffel 17]]

Mirage IIIS with a squadron badge of the Fliegerstaffel17 on the tail

From 1925 to 1939 the unit, which was founded as interception aviation company 17 (Jagd-Flieger-Kompanie 17), was equipped with eight Häfeli DH-5s and a Dewoitine D-27. From 1939 to 1942, flights were operated with C-35 and Fokker CV from Belinzona, Littau, Rümlang, Weinfelden, Hilfikon, Spreitenbach and other places. All these airfields are history now. In 1942 they were trained to fly the C-3603 at their new home, Buochs Air Base. From 1945 to 1947 flight operation with C-3603 was carried out from Raron. In the post-war period, the interception company 17 was transferred into No. 3 squadron of the UeG (Überwachungsgeschwader) and used various aircraft types, from 1947 to 1955 the Morane D‐3800 and from 1947 to 1956 the C-3604.

In 1952, today's Fliegerstaffel 17 was founded as a unit of pilots only. The first jet aircraft operations of the Fliegerstaffel 17 was from 1955 to 1967 with De Havilland D.H. 112 Mk 4 Venom on Buochs Air Base and Militärflugplatz Emmen. In 1963, the "Falcon" was introduced as a new squadron emblem. From 1969 to 1975, flight operations were conducted with Mirage IIIS from Turtmann Air Base, followed by a period flying from Payerne Air Base from 1976 to 1997. As the first squadron of the Swiss Air Force, Fliegerstaffel 17 received the F/A-18 Hornet. At the end of 2005, the Überwachunggeschwader was disbanded and the staff of the Fliegerstaffel 17 was transferred to the similar Berufsfliegerkorps. In 2010, the F/A-18C with the tailnumber J-5017 received a permanent squadron painting and is the squadron aircraft of the Fliegerstaffel 17. In normal flight operation the J-5017 is given priority to the pilots of Fliegerstaffel 17, but is also flown by other pilots. If the current F/A-18 Hornet Solo Display pilot is from the Fliegerstaffel 17, he will fly the J-5017, if available. The co-founder of the F/A-18 Hornet solo display and head of flight safety Stéphane Rapaz is a pilot at Fliegerstaffel 17. From 2000 to 2002 was, the of today 's Divisional general, Claude Meier commander of the Fliegerstaffel 17.

Accidents

On 24 March 1977, two Mirage III (J-2003 and J-2310) collided during a formation flight breakup over Payerne airfield. All parties involved survived the collision, including the commander-in-chief of the Fliegerstaffel 17 and later Chief of the Armed Forces, Christophe Keckeis.^[1]
On 29 August 2016, the F/ A-18C J-5022 hit the ground in the Susten Pass area shortly after take-off at Meiringen Air Base. Its pilot belonging to Fliegerstaffel 17 was killed. As an accident cause, a wrong altitude allocation of the Skyguide air traffic controller at the Tower Meiringen is assumed. The investigation is not yet completed.

Aircraft

References

↑ Flavian Cajacob: "Christophe Keckeis - Ein Flieger mit Bodenhaftung". In: Handelszeitung, 15 November 2003

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fliegerstaffel 17.

Official VBS page of the Fliegerstaffel 17

Swiss Air Force Squadrons & Units
Fighter Squadrons	Fliegerstaffel 1 Fliegerstaffel 2 Fliegerstaffel 3 Fliegerstaffel 4 Fliegerstaffel 5 Fliegerstaffel 6 Fliegerstaffel 7 Fliegerstaffel 8 Fliegerstaffel 9 Fliegerstaffel 10 Fliegerstaffel 11 Zielflugstaffel 12 Fliegerstaffel 13 Instrumentenfliegerstaffel 14 Fliegerstaffel 15 Fliegerstaffel 16 Fliegerstaffel 17 Fliegerstaffel 18 Fliegerstaffel 19 Fliegerstaffel 20 Fliegerstaffel 21 Fliegerstaffel 24
Transport Squadrons	Lufttransport Staffel 1 Lufttransport Staffel 2 Lufttransport Staffel 3 Lufttransport Staffel 4 Lufttransport Staffel 5 Lufttransport Staffel 6 Lufttransport Staffel 7 Lufttransport Staffel 8
Other Units	Berufsfliegerkorps Überwachungsgeschwader LTDB Militär-Helikopter-Rettungsdienst Drohnenstaffel 7 Parachute Reconnaissance Company 17 Patrouille Suisse PC-7 Team GRD Armasuisse

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