Look At These Stunning Photos From Axalp, Switzerland’s Mountaintop Military Air Show

Updated Jul 2, 2020 2:53 PM EDT

The Swiss Air Force is small but very versatile, and it showcases its abilities in style: on the Alps! The annual ‘Fliegerschiessen Axalp’ air show is held at the Axalp-Ebenfluh firing range at an altitude of 7,365 feet above sea level, making it pretty special. Helicopters buzz around the sharp mountain peaks, fast jets swoop in and rattle cannons off at orange targets placed on the mountainsides, and the Swiss display teams—the Hornet Display Team, PC-21 Display Team, and the well-known Patrouille Suisse—perform before the most dramatic backdrop imaginable.

Getting to there is easy for the many VIPs and military personnel ferried by helicopter from nearby Meiringen Airbase to the observation station atop the range. Many others go on foot, though, which involves an intense three hour hike. As an aviation photographer for seventeen years, I have scaled the hills to Axalp five times since 2003. The photos in this piece are among the many photos I shot there.

My first trip to Axalp was just awesome. Shooting at air shows and exercises, I often saw the same aircraft again and again—especially at my home base in Twenthe, the Netherlands, where I originally contracted aviation fever. At Twenthe, usually six different F-16s went up daily, and I challenged myself to get the best shots every time. Eventually I started traveling around Europe and exploring as much as I could. Imagine my excitement when a friend asked me along for a road trip to Axalp nearly 13 years ago.

At the time l was still shooting film, and my first climb up to the range proved to be a baptism of—well, snow. Since the Axalp Air Show is intertwined with the training of reserve pilots from the ‘Fliegerstaffel 8,’ or 8 Squadron, based at Meiringen, it’s always held in early October. Fall had set in pretty hard that first year and a heavy blizzard caught us by surprise.

Though we were well prepared with mountaineering boots, layered clothes and ski poles, conditions were abyssmal. Luckily the Swiss Air Force brought up Port-A-Potties where we could have a break before tumbling back down the mountain. A few days later, I had more success with glimpses of sunshine and managed to capture the show, which featured the awesome Mirage lllRSs in action before their retirement.

Overall it was quite an awesome experience, one that beckoned me back year after year.

The show was cancelled in 2004, but in 2005, it was back, and the conditions were perfect. The first snow had fallen just days before and sunny spells throughout the week maximized flying activities. Now shooting digital and with just a litle more experience, I improved my results and laid down a strategy for the years to come.

The official show days were always held on Wednesday and Thursday but regular training and demo exercises where preformed on Monday and Tuesday. Going up the mountain for two days really beats the body down, so I learned to ease into it, spending the first show day at nearby Meiringen airbase. A lot of jets and helicopters fly to Axalp from the base and the area is flat, which is a welcome change. The second show day, I made my final hike up.

Now that the Mirage llls where part of a byegone era, the F-5 Tigers and F/A-18 Hornets were the highlights of the display, and every year brought new photographic conditions. But in 2006 there was a great new feature: two French Air Force Mirage F.1CT’s. Mirages were back! The Swiss and French militaries have a good working partnership, which results in the type of training that brought the French Mirages to Axalp.

During the Mirages’ strafing runs on mountainside targets, I shot some some decent photos, but the best was a flyby at the north side of the range, beneath us. The camouflage on the tops of the F.1’s stood out against the white valley backdrop.

A year later I got the chance to go again, road tripping for some ten hours to arrive in the wonderful setting of the Bernese Oberland. 2007 featured an air-to-air strafing demonstration with an F-5E painted the colors of the Patrouille Suisse, equipped with a towed target. In fact, these operations are the reason why the team’s Tiger lls are allowed to wear the bright red and white paint scheme. The economy is slow and funding is somewhat tight, so an expensive paint job needs a good reason—namely, that pilots have to distinguish the manned jet from the towed target, and the demonstration team in return could have its aircraft painted up all the same way.

In the live-fire air-to-air demo the action was too far away, and lone spectators could be hit by cannon shells that hit the Axalphorn ridge. They used an Alouette lll helicopter to make sure the area was clear before firing commenced, but it was still an issue.

On one particular occasion, the weather created a really cool effect. Scattered clouds formed on the peaks, eventually rolling over the range area. Just then, a quartet of Hornets started strafing runs. The poor visibility meant most pilots had trouble aiming. They were going low, pulling up and away through the very damp atmosphere. This maneuver got me one of my all-time best aviation photographs, the same one seen at the top of this article. I’ve never seen so much vapour coming off a jet in my life. It was just awesome.

The Axalp experience really did something to me. Every time has been different and the effort needed to get those results from up the Alps makes it so special.

To me photographing military aircraft doesn’t get any better than being at the heart of the action. And experiencing this amidst the beautiful Alpine scenery is just a magical treat! Perhaps only flying along through the mountains would top it, who knows what the future brings…

Check out more of René Vink’s work and follow him on Facebook here and check out his blog here .

Contact the editor Tyler@thedrive.com

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更新于美国东部时间2020年7月2日下午2:53

瑞士空军规模虽小，但实力强大，它以一种别具一格的方式展现着自己的实力：在阿尔卑斯山！一年一度的“阿克萨尔普飞行表演”（Fliegerschiessen Axalp）在海拔7365英尺（约2250米）的阿克萨尔普-埃本弗卢射击场举行，使其显得格外壮观。直升机在陡峭的山峰间盘旋，高速喷气式飞机俯冲而下，向山坡上设置的橙色靶标猛烈开火，而瑞士的特技飞行表演队——包括“大黄蜂”特技飞行表演队、PC-21特技飞行表演队以及著名的“瑞士巡逻兵”飞行表演队——则在这令人叹为观止的壮丽背景下进行精彩的表演。

对于许多贵宾和军方人员来说，从附近的迈林根空军基地乘坐直升机前往山顶的观察站非常方便。然而，也有许多人选择徒步前往，这需要进行长达三个小时的艰苦跋涉。作为一名从业十七年的航空摄影师，自2003年以来，我曾五次攀登阿克萨尔普山。本文中的照片就是我在那里拍摄的众多照片中的一部​​分。

我第一次去阿克萨尔普的经历简直棒极了。在航展和演习中拍摄时，我经常看到同样的飞机反复出现——尤其是在我的家乡荷兰特温特，我最初就是在那里迷上了航空。在特温特，通常每天都有六架不同的F-16战斗机升空，我每次都力求拍出最好的照片。后来，我开始在欧洲各地旅行，尽可能多地探索。想象一下，将近13年前，当一位朋友邀请我一起自驾去阿克萨尔普时，我有多么兴奋。

当时我还在用胶片拍摄，第一次爬上靶场就遭遇了——嗯，雪的洗礼。由于阿克萨尔普航展与驻扎在迈林根的第8飞行中队（Fliegerstaffel 8）的预备役飞行员训练密切相关，所以航展总是在十月初举行。第一年秋意渐浓，一场突如其来的暴风雪让我们措手不及。

尽管我们准备充分，穿着登山靴、多层保暖衣物和滑雪杖，但天气状况却糟糕透顶。幸运的是，瑞士空军运来了移动厕所，让我们得以稍作休息，然后再艰难地滑下山。几天后，阳光偶尔露脸，我运气不错，拍下了精彩的飞行表演——幻影IIIR战斗机在退役前进行了精彩的飞行表演。

总的来说，这是一次非常棒的体验，让我年复一年地想要再次回到这里。

2004年，这个节目停播了，但2005年它又回来了，而且条件完美。几天前刚下了第一场雪，接下来一周阳光明媚，非常适合飞行活动。现在我用数码相机拍摄，经验也更丰富了些，拍摄效果有所提升，并为未来几年制定了策略。

正式的表演日总是在周三和周四，但周一和周二会进行常规的训练和演示演习。连续两天爬山对身体来说非常吃力，所以我学会了循序渐进，第一个表演日就待在附近的迈林根空军基地。很多喷气式飞机和直升机都从那里飞往阿克萨尔普，而且那里地势平坦，这让我感觉很舒服。第二个表演日，我完成了最后一次登山。

幻影III战斗机已成为历史，F-5“虎”式和F/A-18“大黄蜂”战斗机成为航展的焦点，每年的航展都带来新的摄影条件。但2006年出现了一个令人惊喜的新亮点：两架法国空军的幻影F.1CT战斗机。幻影战机重返航展！瑞士和法国军队之间有着良好的合作关系，正是这种合作关系促成了此次法国幻影战机在阿克萨尔普航展上的联合训练。

在幻影战机扫射山坡目标期间，我拍到了一些不错的照片，但最棒的还是它们从靶场北侧下方低空掠过时的景象。F.1战机顶部的迷彩涂装在白色山谷的映衬下格外醒目。

一年后，我又有机会前往，驱车十小时左右抵达风景如画的伯尔尼高地。2007年，一架涂装成瑞士巡逻兵飞行表演队涂装的F-5E战斗机进行了空对空扫射演示，机上还拖挂着一个靶标。事实上，正是因为这些演习，该飞行表演队的虎式II战斗机才被允许涂装鲜艳的红白配色。由于经济不景气，资金也比较紧张，因此昂贵的涂装需要一个充分的理由——飞行员必须能够区分有人驾驶的喷气式飞机和拖挂的靶标，而作为回报，表演队的飞机也可以涂装成同样的样式。

在实弹空对空演习中，射击距离过远，落到阿克萨尔普霍恩山脊上的炮弹可能会击中单独的观众。他们动用了一架云雀III型直升机在射击前确认该区域安全，但这仍然是个问题。

有一次，天气造就了一种非常奇特的景象。零星的云朵在山峰上聚集，最终笼罩了靶场。就在这时，四架“大黄蜂”战斗机开始扫射。由于能见度极低，大多数飞行员都难以瞄准。它们低空飞行，在潮湿的空气中拉起拉开距离。这次机动让我拍到了我最满意的航空照片之一，就是本文开头那张。我这辈子都没见过喷气式飞机冒出这么多蒸汽。真是太震撼了。

Axalp 的体验真的让我印象深刻。每一次都不一样，为了在阿尔卑斯山上取得这样的成果所付出的努力，更让它显得格外特别。

对我来说，拍摄军用飞机最棒的体验莫过于身临其境地感受战斗的激情。而置身于美丽的阿尔卑斯山脉之中，更是一种奇妙的享受！或许只有翱翔于群山之间才能超越这种体验，谁知道未来会怎样呢……

查看更多 René Vink 的作品，请点击此处在 Facebook 上关注他，并点击此处查看他的博客。

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