The Merinigen Air Base (flugplatz in German), in Switzerland, is basically a village in a farming community with space set aide for the accommodation of fighter-bombers and helicopters. The airfield is located near the hamlet of Unterbach and the town of Meiringen, in the canton of Bern. It is one of three main air bases of the Swiss Air Force.
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.
Two roads cross the main runway, and close to the flight-line is a hotel and a Nissan dealer. Security is maintained by military personnel with day-glow battens who gently direct spectators away from the sensitive areas. The fences are designed to keep cattle off the runway rather than as barriers to trouble makers.
When the barriers came down one day, to stop people crossing the main runway, two pedestrians got caught in the middle, leading to a chase by the Swiss Air Force security, in order to stop them before they could get run over by an F-5 Tiger which was taking off.
The photos of the F/A-18C and the F-5 Tiger aircraft are courtesy of the Fighter Jets Lovers page at Facebook -- who got them from Airliners.net. The aerial photo of Meiringen is courtesy of Wikipedia.
No comments:
Post a Comment