COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE / Swiss Wing

Volume 11, No. 42 August 2006CAF Swiss Wing Newsletter

COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE / Swiss Wing

D-DayFrom the Board Swiss NeutralityEcuvillensRock-in an CarFokker-TeamStinsyNews, Veranstaltungen

Table of Contens

Page 2Page 3Page 5Page 8Page 9Page 10Seite 11Seite 12

Special Edition

Know to use this English version

1st: Go to the German part of the homepage and print out the Ger-man Version of the Contact

2nd: Follow the pages and read the German/English title

3rd: Not all Pictures legends and articles are translated

4th: Have fun and enjoy the Con-tact

Col Werner Meier Jost Schneeberger

D-Day June 6, 2006

A trip with the Stinson to the Nor-mandy requires quite some prepara-tions and so Werner and myself met with Roger to plan the details. Whit Monday being a holiday in Fran-ce many airfi elds are closed and fuel would be diffi cult to obtain. We had planned to reach Deauville with two stops on the way. The evening before we loaded up N-121MC and early Monday morning we pushed her out of the hangar. Special permission for an early take-off was obtained and at 0800 we were airborne. The fi rst leg took us through the Jura Mountains to Dijon for customs clearance and fuel. How do you wish to pay? We an-swered: 1st Immediately, 2nd cash in Euro or 3rd Credit Card.

Soon we were airborne again. Werner had entered the routing into the GPS and so we happily proceeded in good weather in the direction of Paris. Until when following a nice straight stretch of a railway to the North East and we

looked down and noticed there was a little silvery toy train steadily overta-king us. Our 100 knots just could not take it up with the TGV (French high speed train - Train à Grande Vites-se). Nevertheless we reached Etampes south of Paris in about an one hour.

Again we refueled and slowly made our way through the Paris radio jungle to Deauville. We received a very hear-ty welcome after our four and a half hour fl ight and immediately fi lled up our tanks. We wanted to check out the landing beaches the same day and con-tacted Roger. Our cameras were loa-ded and we took off again. At «Utah Beach» we were to rendez-vous with the «101st Airborne». We fl ew over the agreed stretch, everybody on the beach waved at us, bikini-clad sun-bathers, strollers in all sorts of attires, some in military dress – but we could not identify our Roger. There simply were to many Rogers on the beach. Anyway we circled those groups which waved the most and made our way to

Stinson over Utah beach. At Utah beach in the West sector the VII US Corps of the US Army landed against relatively weak German opposition and low casualties .With amphibian tanks and bull-dozers the beachhead was established and penetration into the dunes near Carentan and Lessay was accomplished. Unloading occurred at low tide on the wide beach and clear

of obstacles

Ste Mère Eglise, the village was in the fi lm the Paratrooper was caught on the church spire.

Everywhere we could see preparations for a great event. Our return fl ight

CAF Swiss Wing August 2006 Page 2

took us over the impressive fortifi ca-tions, invasion barriers and memori-als. In Deauville we parked and tied down our Stinson and then proceeded to Rogers villa. The day ended with a simple meal in the city.

June 6 th began with fl ight preparati-ons. We had invited our friends to be present at Utah Beach at 0900 hours. Our timing worked out well. We fl ew over Omaha Beach, the city of Caen and came to our rendez-vous. We were just one minute early and Werner was concentrating his attention to the low fl ying, whereas I called out all I could detect such as mooring posts left, don-keys straight ahead, beach combers right etc but no Jeeps, no tanks no motor cycles and no Roger!

So we turned around and searched - after all the L-5 «Stinsy» is an obser-vation plane. Werner followed various roads and from the rear seat I trained my ground-attack eyesight on any ob-ject with a military appearance. And sure enough we spotted a speeding mo-tor cycle, waving a Swiss fl ag followed by a jeep. They headed for the beach and we watched them from a safe al-titude as they took up their position. Our motivation now was: Speed and Sound! First the drop of the message bag, then a low pass with smoke follo-wed by an extended fl ight display.

Throughout our time in the Norman-dy area we was to be in contact with Deauville Radar. Just one of the calls from the lady controller may be men-tioned: «Stinson N121MC you have opposite traffi c, one helicopter in low level fl ight, one mile ahead, he is hig-her than you».

We had also visited other camps such as a French veteran group with several track vehicles and remnants of a Da-kota fuselage. The return fl ight took us over many historic sites where in-dividual remembrance festivities were

The clock tower of Ste Mère Eglise with a doll suspended in remembrance of John Steele whose parachute tangled with the eaves of the spire during the night of June 5 th 1944.

He was freed by German soldiers and years later revisited the place of his ordeal.

The 82 nd US Airborne Division was assigned the task to establish a bridge head at the Merderet and to take and hold the street crossing of Ste Mére Eglise. Some of its inhabi-tants had in the night of the 5 th to 6 th of June been called out by alarm bells. A building had caught fi re and they were trying to put out the blaze. At the same time the paratro-opers were dropped. One of them landed on the burning house, another was caught in a tree and was hit by machine gun fi re. The 3rd batallion reduced to one fourth of its strength surrounded the village and by 0430 hours took control. A counter attack by the enemy did not succeed. The 82 nd Airborne however was unable to establish contact with

other units until the 7th of June.

The «Airborne Museum» displays a large number of exhibits of the airborne operations Apart from arms and equipments of those days there are many interesting photographs

of the action can be seen.


From the Boardunderway. It was an emotional fl ight of two hours when we landed back in Deauville. The evening ended at Roger’s place with a grill party, with wine and bread. We reviewed and ex-changed the many impressions of the day.

Wednesday was a travel day: Fare-well, pre-fl ight check and departure to the east. The wind was stronger then we had expected and we made slow progress. Landing at Auxerre at 1140 was scheduled. A few miles out we contacted the tower and we recei-ved which runway was in use. As we turned downwind at two minutes to twelve the tower announced: «We are closing down, it’s lunch time».

We had reconsidered our situation. We had used up quite some fuel and would not make it to Dijon the next fi eld where we could count on fuel. At our planned alternate the fuel station would also have closed down by now. We then noticed another light aircraft approaching the aitport and so we de-cided to land after all. We were not the only ones. At the restaurant we were told that the tower was closed but fuel would be available at 1400 hours. And so, shortly after two o’clock we were again on our way direction Switzer-land. We were lucky with the wea-ther. Three days of sunshine and even on our last leg we enjoyed the clear weather as we crossed into our home territory at Porrentruy and made our landing at our home base Birrfeld.

Stinsy behaved very well, twelve fl ying hours. Mission accomplished in three days of a memorable fl ight. A hearty thanks to all those who contributed and made this fl ight possible.

Let‘s not forget.

Col Henry Saladin

Col Werner Meier (front) and Col Henry Saladin and the Stinson overhead «Juno

Beach» – an unforgettable experience.

Soldier’s cemetery

Fortifi cations at «Point du Hoc», Omaha Beach.

Remnants of the temporary harbour « Mulberry B» at Arromanches

Model and objectives of the CAF Swiss Wing confi rmed at the General Assembly, March 2006

Model

The CAF Swiss Wing is an association of aviation and space enthusiasts.

We are an independent, Swiss organization. We support the non-material goals of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), Midland, Texas, USA, the world’s largest organization for the history of aviation.

Membership is open to all aviation enthusiasts; membership in the US CAF is not a condition.

Objectives

• We support the preservation of historical aircraft in an airworthy condition, with special emphasis on WW2 aircraft.

• We hope to operate one or several of these aircraft and to exhibit them at airshows.

• We operate an information and sales booth that displays our objectives at airshows.

• We are also interested in the history of vintage aircraft and special aviation events.

• For our members, we organize trips to airshows, exhibits, and social events.

• We place especial value on the contact to other aviation groups, museums, and individuals with similar or identical interests.


One of the many German WN’s - «Defense Nests» The WN5 is located between the dunes. On its left a memorial was placed in honour of the 1st US Pioneer Brigade which landed at this spot on June 6th at 0630 hours. Behind this memorial a German gun is pointed towards the sea. The interior of the bunker has been transformed into a memorial crypt. Another nearby bunker contains the Utah Beach Museum.

Lt. Arthur Jahnke, of the 3 rd company of the 919 th Inf. Rgt had the order to defend this station. The beach was 800 meters wide at low tide. At high tide the water reached the barbed wire fencing. Defense armour consisted of captured machine guns in the dome, 8 cm mortars in concrete boxes, 2 heavy machine guns, 3 Flame throwers, 2x5 cm KWKs, 7.5 cm fi eld guns, 7.5 cm Anti Tank guns, 8.8 cm AA guns and several Goliaths. At 0400 hours on June 6 th most of the bunkers and armament had been destroyed by aerial bombardment and rockets. At 0415 hours naval bombardment destroyed the last 8.8 cm guns.At 0630 hours the fi rst wave of the assault stormed ashore. WN5 had only a few machine guns and mortars left. The 8.8cm gun only fi red one round. The second assault wave only encounter limited resistance by the Goliath remote controlled 92 kg rockets which however malfunctioned and did not meet their targets.

Richi Hirter (left), Adrian Verdun and Roger Burri


NeutralitätsschutzPolitisch oder mit

Kanonen

In the last issue of Contact I have described the development of aerial defence. The challenge of target ac-quisition and fi ring was discussed and this should create some under-standing for the rather poor results achieved.

Col Werner Meier

The Swiss Anti Aircraft Operations 1940

At the time of the mobilization of the armed forces on August 29th 1939 the air defence units consisted of two anti aircraft batteries each with four 7.5 cm cannons and six batteries with 20 mm guns. Although several intrusions into our airspace took place in the fi rst months it became evident, that these aircraft fl ew beyond the approved de-fence zone of our fi ghters and at altitu-des beyond the range of the guns. With all the batteries in readiness at the front training of new crews was a problem.

During November most batteries were recalled in order to intensify basic trai-ning with the limited number of guns. At the same time procurement of new armament was urgently pursued. Des-perately needed cannons, searchlights and command units were funded with appropriately 62 Million Swiss francs.

In time for the second general mobi-lization on May 10th 1940 a total of 27 anti aircraft batteries were in ser-vice. Within this month for the fi rst time the batteries saw action against foreign aircraft. Success however was not evident. In June 1940 fi re was ope-ned again this time by an anti aircraft battery stationed at Jura. As it was not a high altitude overfl ight the two bat-teries stationed at Laufen scored a hit and the German crew had to bail out. A further Me-110 was heavily dama-ged by 7.5 cm ordinance and crashed at Oberkirch/SO.

The Support by the Swiss Air Force…

In June some 84 border violations occurred, mainly by German aircraft taking shortcuts across Switzerland for action operations in France. From June 1st to June 8th several air batt-les took place. The Fl.Kp.6, 15 and 21 equipped with Me-109 took the main burden and were quite successful. A political power play resulted in inter-diction of air patrols north of a line from Morges, Yverdon, Biel, Baden, Winterthur, St. Gall and Altstätten. After the fall of France the air defence by fi ghter aircraft was completely stop-ped.

On June 20th 1940 the supreme com-mander of the Swiss armed forces deci-ded that action against foreign aircraft would be limited to anti aircraft batte-ries and on November 7th 1940 a total black-out from 22:00 to 06:00 hours was ordered to deprive foreign aircraft the facility to navigate by night. Addi-

tionally all broadcasts by the national radio stations Beromünster, Sottens and Monte Ceneri ceased after 22:00 hours.

In August the anti aircraft had several night time actions due to the conti-nuous incursions by English aircraft. From positions at Berne and Thun eight engagements by 7.5 cm batteries took place with little success. The high fl ight levels limited the fi rings to about two minutes.

During the night of the 20th of Oc-tober 158 rounds were fi red at British bombers, 473 rounds were fi red in November. Results could not be ascer-tained.

In order to increase the range of the 7.5 cm cannon several batteries were installed on higher ground at Simp-lon, Gotthard and Jaun passes. Guns from higher positions were moved to the Wallis to avoid being snowed in.

During 1940 the aerial defence was by and large ineffective in protecting our neutrality against foreign aircraft, with the exception of the June 8th engage-ment against German fl ights. After July

Swiss 7.5 cm anti aircraft gun 1938/49 – ranging exercise.

Page 4 / German Version

The Protection of Swiss Neutrality

By political means or cannons?


Keep‘em fl ying Partners

Reiseveranstalter3283 Kallnach

Tel: 032 391 0111www.marti.ch

Results came much later

According to reports by downed American bomber crews, grenades fi red by our heavy batteries came quite close, the third rounds usually being accurate. The crew only realized they were fi red at when the fi rst grenade ex-ploded, time for them was too short to respond and indicated an intention to land by distress fl ares or lowering the landing gear. The third round by that time was already underway. Ap-preciating this dilemma for the crew in distress the fi ring of the second burst was ordered delayed to permit ack-nowledgement.

Quantity of Ammunition used

Analyzing the operations of the Ger-man anti aircraft batteries their ammo consumption was enormous. During 1943 per downed aircraft 3’400 gre-nades of 8.8 cm and 5’000 rounds of light anti aircraft rounds were used. In 1944 this number rose to 33’500 heavy rounds per aircraft. The num-ber of anti aircraft units deployed

around Hamburg amounted to 71 batteries totalling 346 barrels calib-re 12.8, 10.5 and 8.8 cm.

In comparison the Swiss defence in 1943 consis-ted of 190 can-nons calibre 7.5 cm, 1’720 gre-nades were fi red and four aircraft were downed. Of course the high altitude of 6’000 to 9’000 meters of the bombing runs played a signifi cant role.

For a successful defence at night a tar-get had to be made visible by search lights. Mobile units had mirrors of 30 to 110 cm diameter and stationary units were measured 110 to 250 cm. These search lights had a range from 1 to 6 km. and required 16 kW electric power for the carbon arc. The carbon ash generated was a great polluter and reduced local visibility

Data for the 7,5 cm A/A Cannon

Details: 360° azimuth, elevation -2°to +85°, 25 rounds/min (Barrel temperature had to be monitored closely, auto-ignition could occur at 140°C. Data from 20-mm Cannon). The order for the crew was to take immediate cover for 20 minutes to allow the barrel to cool.

Initial velocity Vo 805 m/sec, max. range 9’000 meters. Full swing 360° in 35.6 secs., min. to max. elevation angle of 85° in 30 secs. With an improved drive (Contraves) ranging time was reduced to 9.55 secs. And 5.0 secs. The «Tavaro» fuse of the 6.5 kg grenade was «hot» after 0.7 sec. which corresponded to a safe zone of 600 m

Col Werner Meier

the defence of our neutrality remained in the hands of terrestrial units. The fact that most overfl ights occurred by night and the lack of suffi cient search lights limited the chances of hits. De-spite frequent fi rings the results could not be verifi ed nor could any downing be confi rmed

Diagram showing ranging limits for an airspeed of 300 km/hour

more next page

For your information: You will read more details in the German version.


The 7.5 cm cannon during fi ring. Note the Tempier unit on the left of the barrel which sets the timer

The German 8,8-cm Flak

German 8.8 cm anti aircraft gun. Anti aircraft operations were transferred from the army to the Luftwaffe. The 8.8 cm 36/37 gun was improved. The rounds of 9.4 kg had a Vo of 825 m/sec. With a range of 10 km height or 15 km distance. The latest issue in 1941 set a record Vo of 1400 m/sec and an accuracy which even today is remarkable.


report

Ecuvillens 2006

On June 24/25 the 16th Old Timer meeting at Ecuvillens took place. With good weather except for some night time showers one could admire oldie aircraft, cars, motor cycles, tractors as well as a US military camp. The CAF Swiss Wing traditionally is represented at this meeting with its promotion stand and shop. The «Stinsy» and the «AC-4» of course were present as well. The aircraft could be presented in fl ight and the army camp did its best to draw attention with occasional sirens. As usual it was a great event.

Col Werner Meier

Ancient tractors made by Hürlimann and Bührer still in agricultural use.

Oldie motor cycles and thehe army camp with Jeep and Weapon Carrier

Stinson, AC-4 and B-25


report

Switzerland biggest Rockin’ Car, Bike’n Aircraft Meeting...

…thus was announced the meeting at our «Stinsy» home base - it was by no means exaggerated. On this fi rst hot day of July not only the temperatures exceeded 30°C but also the sound of old engines and airplanes fi lled the air and caused rising temperatures.

The aerial show progressed well under control of the airport management. More than a thousand cars were expected by Paul Burkhalter «crazy eventik». The capacity of the fi eld was used to its limits but all visitors had their fun despite some grumbling by residents who were deprived of their usual parking space.

An excellent event combining Old timers, sound in all its variations and topped by good aerial shows.

Col Werner Meier

Our president Thomas Lutz enjoying himself at the CAF Swiss Wing stand.Oldtimer on the customs parking

Old timer parking, cars, ancient vehicles and on the stage songs and rock and roll until the early morning hours


reportFokker-Team and a

B-737 Cockpit

Slowly the Fokker Team is gaining the reputation of «High Flyers» in the museum scene. Not only does it insure the upkeep and preservation of the aircraft for which it signs responsible, it also offers its expertise for the refurbishing of the Swissair DC-3 and refi tting of all sorts. The latest job undertaken is to transform a B-737 cockpit into a simulator.

In 1968, B-737-222 was built by Boeing for service by United until 1998 after which it was parked in the desert near Las Vegas.

With a chain saw the cockpit was separated and sold to a Swiss buyer. By sea and road transport it arrived at Dübendorf where work began to rebuild it into a simulator. It should be ready for service by Christmas this year.

Col Werner Meier


Hello Cols and Friends

Awe or Shock ? Die schlechte Nachricht - Stichwort: Beziehungskiste - oder die ganz schlechte Nachricht - Stichwort: Monika - zuerst ? Na also: An mir liegt’s bestimmt nicht, dass meine Schwester bislang nichts von mir wissen wollte. Vielleicht will sie nicht, oder sie darf nicht, obwohl ihre engsten Mäzene und Freunde, wie die meinen, dereinst in der selben Flug- und später Bruchbude ihre Brötchen erfl ogen. Meinen die etwa, ihr Sentinellchen sei was Besseres, bloss weil es vor 52 Jahren durch ein paar grün gewandete Meisterschützen vom jurassischen Himmel geholt und von der Swiss Air-force eingeheimst wurde ? Klar hatte Sisterchen Sentinelly ein paar passable Jahre ge-

nossen und sei es auch nur als gutmütiges Schlepppferd für motorlose Aufwindjäger gewesen. Hingegen als Animierdame und Lockvogel so einer Güggelibeiz in the middle of nowhere, von schmuddelig patschigen Kinderhändchen abgefi ngert zu werden und in der segenden Sonne ausgedörrt als unbrauchbares Wrack enden zu müssen, machte ihren Schweizer Pass auch nicht wett. Finde ich.

Doch der Juni 2006 kam und dem Dubler-Clan sei Dank: Welcome back, Schwesterchen ! Der ausgedehnte Aufenthalt in der ungarischen Schönheitsfarm ist dir sehr wohl bekommen. Spic and span, gelackt und frisch getrimmt: Zugegeben, die leuchtenden breiten Streifen um deine Waistline sind vielleicht etwas gewagt, angesichts unseres Alters. Du weisst ja, Streifen machen nicht unbedingt schlank. Aber neben mir, deiner kühlen, eleganten amerkanischen Schwester wärst du eine ganz passable und willkommene Ergänzung. Wir, das «Duo Geschwister Stinson» würden – und das kann ich dir aus Erfahrung versichern – all die Kriegsveteranen beim alljährlichen Picknick auf der Omaha Beach noch viel mehr als sonst üblich zu Tränen rühren: «The Great United States of America and little brave Switzerland united in Stinsons». Aber eben, bislang habe ich nichts von dir gehört. Vermutlich brillierst du weiter still vor dich hin in deinem Jurasüdfuss Uhrenkaff , während ich mich im nationalen wie internationalen Erfolg nur so aalen kann.

A propos Erfolg: Unser diesjähriger Gedenktrip in die Normandie liess die begeisterten Veteranen aus Nah und Fern reihenweise auf den Rücken fallen und die Dame von der Radarkontrolle von Deauville in heillosem Entsetzten gleich unters Pult, als sie uns in a cloud of dust unter einem Muschel suchenden Bodensurri-Heli durchbrausen sah. Just do it ! war das Motto meines Pilot in Command Col Meier. Im Stechfl ug warf er die Meldetasche ab und entschwand in einer mega Rauchwolke zwischen den Bäumen einer Allee. Auch ohne gewagte Streifen an Taille und weissem Kreuzchen am Hinterteil werden die uns dort hinten im Frankenland noch lange nicht vergessen.

Last but not least zum angedrohten Monika-Schocker: Unsere unschätzbare, unentbehrliche und unersetzbare, Chief Colonel of the Promotion Division Monika Eschmann, spielt bedrohlich mit dem Gedanken, ihr Amt als Director of Sales and Promotion in andere Hände legen zu wollen. Ungeachtet der ach so wahren Volksweisheit, dass selten was Besseres nachkommt. Monika, die mir doch so viel zu meinem weit um verbreiteten Ansehen verholfen hat und die mit ihrem unwiderstehlichen Charme noch dem grünsten der grünen linken Antiaviatiker ein währschaftes Modellfl iegerchen verkaufen konnte, will ihr unbezahlbares und ebenso unbezahltes Amt niederlegen.

Monika, dies ganz privat und nur unter uns: Auch wenn es vielleicht nicht das Ding einiger unserer Friends and Cols ist, immer und unablässig gleich vierhändig mit Anerkennung und Lob um sich zu werfen, lass dir verraten sein: Allein schon die Vorstellung, dein gewinnendes Wesen nicht mehr hinter den Verkaufstresen zu sehen, mache ihn, Col Meier, sehr traurig. Hat er mir heute mit leicht stockender Stimme selber gesagt. Ehrlich ! Und eine solche Aussage ersetzt jedes nur erdenkliche Lob. Vor allem, wenn diese Aussage von Col Meier kommt.

Also dann, liebe Cols uns sonstigFreunde, haltet unsere Monika bei denVerkaufs-Tresen und Euch in der Luft !

Herzlichst

Eure Stinsy

CAF Swiss Wing August 2006 Seite 12

news Veranstaltungen / Reisen

CAF Swiss Wingwww.caf-swisswing.ch

Präsident:

Editor:

Druck:

CAF Col Thomas LutzBrunnenwiese 53, 8132 Egg

CAF Col Werner MeierItenhard 47, 5620 Bremgarten

«Contact» ist das Publikations-organ des Swiss Wing der CAFin Midland TX, USA

Knapp AG, 8918 Unterlunkhofen

Mitfl ug-Gelegenheiten mit

StinsyHenry Saladin 01 853-0533

C-36Guido Pellicioli 079 636-5346

PC-7Peter Bosshard 01 822-0404

CAF Swiss Wing - Shop

WS - Werbestand

1.-2. September Swiss Airforce Competition, Emmen WS3. September Fliegerchilbi Langenthal WS9.-10. September 75-Jahre Flugplatz Grenchen Flight OPS / WS16.-17. September Flugtage Hilzingen (D) Flight OPS23-.24. September Sternmotorentreffen in Bern Flight OPS / WS7.-8. Oktober Modellfl ugtage Hausen a/A WS7.-8. Oktober Fina Air Show / Midland CAF SW25. November Jahresend-Anlass CAF SW

2006

Neu: Hemd (100% Baumwolle, bügelleichte Pfl ege) mit Krawatte. Sie haben nie mehr die «Qual der

Wahl». Bei einem CAF Swiss Wing-Anlass sind sie immer gut angezogen - auch für Frauen! Langarm Fr. 65.00, Kurzarm Fr. 60.00, Krawatte Fr. 25.00

Bestellungen an: Monika Eschmann, Juraweg 481, 4813 Uerkheim

[email protected] weitere Artikel fi nden Sie auf unserer Homepage:

www.caf-swisswing.ch

Die «Stinsy» über dem «English Channel» und die B-25 «Mitchell» landet in Ecuvillens.

Herzlich willkommen im Vorstand des CAF Swiss Wing

Herbert Schilling

Unser neues Vorstandsmitglied im Cockpit der B-29 «FIFI».

Documents

COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE / Swiss Wing