SWISS AIR FORCE AND ANTIAIRCRAIT COMMAl'ID June 1971 KFLF I Dokumentationsdienst • i' lndexiert : 23. JUNI 1972 .~ Mikrofilm : 5 0 0 J 1 2 C· ( Nachweise: THE SWISS AIR FORCE By lst Lt florian Davatz Observer, Swiss Ab:~ Force Oillitia) THE SWISS AIR FORCE June 1971 By 1st Lt florian Davatz Observer, S"wiss Air Force (Hilitia) 1. THE HEROIC ERA: 1912 - 1914 Like in many other countries, the birth of what is now proudly referred to as the Swiss Air Fo1,ce was a slow, painful process and the path of its early development was tortuous, covered by obstacles and rna.rked by opposition due mainly to ignorance and inexperience, but also to the poor performance of the early rickety and nnderpowered n aeroplanes n 0 The pioneer~s of aviation as a whole v1ere visionaries and ad\raTJ.turers on a new frontier, yet it is doubtful that even -they would have believed that in half a century the frail "chicke.1·1 coops n they were flying at that time would develop into the sleek and shiny blowtorches Which today zoom through the uwild blue yonder" at twice the speed of sound. Quite a few anong the pioneers of aviation - pilots and aircraft designers - were Swiss nationals. They all owned air­ planes. Some were developing flying machines for manufacturers in Gennany and France, others worked in Switzerland, but they all had one thing in common: enthusiasm for flying. The kt:my tvas al­ ready conscious of the advantages of observation from the air. Reports on the use of captive balloons during the .Ainerican Civil tvar must have reached Switzerland fairly quickly, but it took until 1899 to establish the first "Balloon Company" and until 1900 for the first balloon to take to the air. After the first flight by the Wright Brothers: in. December, 1903, heavier-than-air aviation captured the fancy of the public all over the world, and it was only natural that the military would study the p:Jt~1tial of the "aeroplanen in warfare. ./. THE. SWISS AIR FORCE - 2 - Air shows were put on all over Europe, including Svd.tzerland, be­ ginning in 1906 with the first powered flig}Jrt of the Brazilir.m Alberta Santos-Dt.uront on a plane built in Europe (by himself} • The ice had been broken. However, the initiative to buy airpla11es did not come f:run the A...vmy, but from pilots who had learned to fly in other cotmtries at their own expense, and from the Swiss Aero Club, founded on March 31, 1901. In January, 1910, the first public air show took place, 21!-d four pilots (still without a license) bounced around, producing a lot of kindling and leaving the public somewhat disappJintedo During the same year, several im:pJr·tant events took place: on Harch 15, the first successful and fairly nlongvv flight ( 31 minutes and 10 seconds) over Swiss territory with an engine-powered airplane (a hlri~ht biplane) was carried out successful­ :ly from the frozen SUl'"'face of Lake St. Moritz by the Genna.11 Corvette Captain Paul Engelhard (a pupil of Orville t-Jright}; on July 12th, Armand Dufaux managed· to rema.L.1 airoorn.e for 31 minutes at Viry near Geneva, with a plane built by his brother Henri, and on August 28th he won the Perrot-Duval prize of Sfr. 5 1 000 .. -- by flying t~e full length of Lake Geneva (41 miles) in 55 minutes and thus marked the beginn:L"1g of Swiss motor-driven aviation; on October lOt~, the SrJ'1iss Aero Club arranged t~e first National Aviation Meeting in Switzerland, jo:L""Ltly with the Automobile Club of Bern. In the course of this event, E!:nest Failloubaz f:run Avenches aJld Emilio Taddeoli from Geneva were awcm1ed Pilot's Li­ censes Nos 1 and 2 of the Aero Club of Switzerland; DUbendorf, the first Swiss aerodrome with permanent facilities, was inaug.rrated on the occa­ sion of an Aviation Week (October 22 to 26) attended by 100'000 spectators who applauded the French pilo·t Legagneux as the hero of the event when~ on a Bleriot, he completed the first cross-cormt:ry flight in Switzerland successfully, over a distance of sc.tne 12 miles from DObendorf to Uster and back. All these events did not go unnoticed by the military authol."'~ities e Furthennore, sane of the pilots had C6lled the at-tention of the Mili·tary Department and of the General Staff to the possibilities of using air­ planes in the Army. ./ .. THE S\t{ISS AIR FORCE - 3 - On December 30, 1910, the Chief of the Ge..neral Staff submitted a hand-v.Iritten letter ( typewrita"'S were still sca:t."'Ce ! ) to the Hilitary Departrn~~t and ei\.'})ressed the opinion of the Ge...'""le·.rel Staff t"lat the tL'"Ile to take over heavier-than-air aviation had not yet come but that a benevolent attitude should be takeno The limited means available should be used to support serious efforts by awa..""'­ ding subsidies to fliers who could prove their proficiency t.vith recognized pilot' s licenses or by sponsoring ru.Val.'"'Cis f~ outs-tanding performa.~ces. In 1911, the S"wiss Officers' Society accepted an invitation to attend the French maneuvers betwee...n. Belfort and Vesoul, and many hi~"'l~ral'l."king Swiss officers went along. Ntmlerous airplalles took part in the operations!) and it Wa.s evident that considerable prog:r'eSS had been made in their desig11 since the 1910 Fall Maneuvers o Tne SV\'d.ss officers v.1ere :impressed and conseque..ntly, the first attempt was made to use an airplane during the rnaneuvers of t""le 1st Swiss Army Corps .in September of the same year., Also in 1911, the Ae::s..~ Club Section of Eastern. Switzerland published a merrorandum in which it called the attention of the public to the need for airfields in Switzerland as a first step towards the introduc..-rtion of military aviation which, as progr'ess in surrounding countries had shown, was boUJ.?].d to ba,""''me an indispensable instrument of national defense. The Government was asked to shed the reluctance it had shot.-m up to then and to support the creation of ai.rdromes. These airfields should be made accessible to the public in order to encourage you.Tlg enthusiasts to buy their own airplanes. Without additional cost, this would create a stock of trained pilots available for national defense, should the time come to in-rn:xluce aviation into the &."""'ffy ••• In June, 1912, the Chief of the General Staff submitted to the Federal Military Department a memorandum vJhich he had req1.1ested of the Central Corrunittee of the Arcro Club. It was a summary of suggestions by various ./. THE 8\tJISS AIR FORCE - 4 - groups of aviators on t".he most effective ways in which the Government could support their efforts, but unforrtunately 5 nothing was said about hovr airplanes could or should be used in the Arnrj, and therefore, no response was elicited fTOm the military, The_~ \vas also some opposi­ tion against that newcomer, the aeroplane. Dozens of so-called ~vexperts·vv voiced their opinions, in books, magazines a:nd in letters to the military authorities. They recommended the captive balloon as the only contrivance suitable for the A..YTfir:f and warned against the purchase of aeroplanes. They claimed that a captive balloon could remain airborne for at least 12 hours or even indefinitely, close to the front l:ines, to observe the enemy on the ground and to report approaching hostile aircraft. Furthermore, they said, captive balloons were much cheaper and one of them could replace four or five aeroplanes. Other vvexpertsvv implored the Office of the Ge..neral Staff, the !1ilita_ry Depar'trn.e='....nt and the President of 9-wi tzerland personally, to buy the diri­ gible "Parsevaln :instead, whic..h could achieve a speed of 50 - 70 kmlh (31 - 44 rnph ! ) ; it had been fly.ing over Z~ich dm"'iJ1g the 1909 Gordon­ Beru""1ett tournament o The rook "Aeroplanes and Dirigibles as Means of ~'Varfare n stated: H ... ., The aeroplanes are done with anyway when they come close ·to a dirigible. The whirlwind caused by the four propellet"~s creates a zone one kilometel"" long and with a diameter of 200 to 300 meters which is unpa.ssable for an aeroplane.. /m.y aeroplaTJ.e getting into this whirl\"Tind would be 't.)rn about irnm-....odiatel y and would crash to the ground • ., • n Others who VJere in favor of airplanes differed greatly in their various opinions. While some recorrmended monoplanes, others t·.Tere all for biplaT'les which they considered better suited for fly:L"Lg in SvJitzel"'land .. Some even warned that speeds in excess of 50 to 60 krn/h ( 31 - 37 mph) were dange.'t"Qus for humans! .1. THE SWISS AIR FORCE - 5 - Thus time passed, and while no major breakthrough came to pass, the controversy-; the continuing privdte flying ac-tivity &id the rapidly increasing arms race in Germany and France kept the Svrlss people aware of the need to lay the fournations for military aviation. Almost at the exac·t tL~e when the General Staff w-as exchanging memo;::~&""'lda with the Aero Club and with the ~nitary Department, a National Drive for Militar-y Aviation was initiated by the Swiss Officers' Society. It was launched on January 1st, 1913, with an appeal to the Stviss people, signed by the highest-ranking officers and by a large rrurnber of prominent :members of both Houses.