Zoomer's Axalp and other places Swiss

Post by **zoomer** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 8:38 pm

It was my first time over at Axalp this year, and even though it was called off I had great guides in Axalp Andy and Richard (cheers guys) and so we were gonna be on the right track whatever happened.
Four newbies and 2 old pros sounds like a recipe for disaster but it worked really well - and I had a good idea of the sort of shots I wanted from studying classics from years past, so I had my own plan of sorts.
I wanted to try some slow shutter speed shots of helicopters, anything of F5's and Hornet's would do, and if other stuff turned up then it would be bonus time. Suffice to say some of it came off, much didn't!

Given the cancellations, we luckily called our locations right almost every day - Monday was KP / Tschingel, Tuesday down in Meiringen, Wednesday at Sion, Thursday back at Meiringen and Friday a drive-by of Payerne on the way home.
Felt really bad for the rest of our group (and the other 4000 people) who went up to Tschingel on Thursday only to have it then called off - Meiringen was very active to the point we assumed the demo was still all going ahead!

On to the pix - noting that many thousands were taken, mostly at slow shutter speeds (and so instantly binnable) I've only managed to go through Monday and Tuesday in full.
So a selection below ordered by aircraft type from those two days, plus a couple of Meiringen shots from Thursday - I'll post Sion/ Payerne plus remaining Meiringen Thursday once done (mostly F5's and Hornets).
There's a few more on Flickr for those with the patience, plus these all in higher res...

Finally, I usually process my images from RAW but due to limited time I've done these all from jpgs, so some are a bit grainy (mainly those from KP/Tschingel as the backlighting was challenging).
So hopefully a bit of grain/noise won't detract (some might even say it adds!)...

DAY 1 - MONDAY, AXAL-EBENFLUH RANGE - PC21 Practice display

1. Swiss Air Force PC-21 practice display at AXALP by Phil Royal, on Flickr

2. Swiss Air Force Pilatus PC21 Display at Axalp 2015 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

3. Swiss Air Force Pilatus PC21 Display at Axalp 2015 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

4. Swiss Air Force Pilatus PC21 Display at Axalp 2015 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

5. Swiss Air Force Pilatus PC21 Display at Axalp 2015 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

6. Swiss Air Force Pilatus PC21 Display at Axalp 2015 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

7. Swiss Air Force Pilatus PC21 Display at Axalp 2015 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

8. Swiss Air Force Pilatus PC21 Display at Axalp 2015 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

9. Swiss Air Force Pilatus PC21 Display at Axalp 2015 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

DAY 1 - MONDAY, AXAL-EBENFLUH RANGE - F5 strafing runs

10. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger by Phil Royal, on Flickr

11. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger by Phil Royal, on Flickr

12. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger by Phil Royal, on Flickr

13. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger by Phil Royal, on Flickr

14. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger by Phil Royal, on Flickr

15. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger by Phil Royal, on Flickr

16. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger by Phil Royal, on Flickr

17. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger by Phil Royal, on Flickr

18. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger by Phil Royal, on Flickr

19. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger by Phil Royal, on Flickr

20. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger Patrouille Suisse by Phil Royal, on Flickr

21. Swiss Air Force F5 Tiger Patrouille Suisse by Phil Royal, on Flickr

DAY 1/2 - MONDAY/TUESDAY, AXAL-EBENFLUH & MEIRINGEN - EC635's and SUPER PUMA/COUGAR's (including practice at Meiringen but no flares :sad: )

22. Swiss Air Force EC-635 at Meiringen by Phil Royal, on Flickr

23. Swiss Air Force EC-635 at Meiringen by Phil Royal, on Flickr

24. Swiss Air Force EC-635 at Meiringen by Phil Royal, on Flickr

25. Swiss Air Force EC-635 at Meiringen by Phil Royal, on Flickr

26. Swiss Air Force Eurocopter EC635 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

27. Swiss Air Force Super Puma T-314 on approach by Phil Royal, on Flickr

28. Swiss Air Force Super Puma T-314 take off by Phil Royal, on Flickr

29. Swiss Air Force Super Puma T-323 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

30. Swiss Air Force Super Puma / Cougar AS332 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

31. Swiss Air Force Super Puma / Cougar AS332 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

32. Swiss Air Force Super Puma / Cougar AS332 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

33. Swiss Air Force Super Puma / Cougar AS332 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

34. Swiss Air Force Super Puma / Cougar AS332 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

35. Swiss Air Force Super Puma / Cougar AS332 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

36. Swiss Air Force Super Puma / Cougar AS332 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

37. Swiss Air Force Super Puma / Cougar AS332 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

38. Swiss Air Force Super Puma / Cougar AS332 by Phil Royal, on Flickr

And a taste of things to come...

39. Swiss Air Force FA18 Hornet by Phil Royal, on Flickr

40. Swiss Air Force F18 display by Phil Royal, on Flickr

Comments always welcomed. I hope to have the rest up next weekend.

Post by **lardyboy999** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 8:53 pm

Stunners, every one.

One for the bucket list.

Post by **zoomer** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 9:24 am

Cheers Andrew - yeah, but don't hang about fulfilling your list, if rumours are to be believed.

Word on the hills was the Swiss AF would gladly avoid the hassle of managing a few thousand togs in alpine environments and make it a private affair, but local businesses are not happy as it brings in some CHF at a slow time of the year.
So I wouldn't delay going if you can afford a trip over soon.