Flight Simulator Flights at LSME Emmen Air Base

Emmen Air Base is a Swiss Air Force airfield north of the town of Emmen, northwest of Lucerne, best known as the home of the Patrouille Suisse aerobatic team and as a key jet and propeller pilot training and alternate base. Civilian flying is possible only on a very limited basis, making this primarily a field of interest to sim pilots wanting to fly military training profiles or explore Swiss Air Force operations.

Overview

Emmen Air Base (Militärflugplatz Emmen) is a Swiss Air Force airfield situated north of Emmen and northwest of Lucerne. It is one of the Air Force's most important stations, hosting flying squadrons, pilot training units and the personnel needed to operate and maintain a wide range of aircraft and systems. It is the long-standing home of the Patrouille Suisse aerobatic display team and hosts jet pilot training on the Pilatus PC-21, making it a distinctive and active military field for a sim pilot to study, even though civilian access is tightly restricted.

Airspace & Location

The airfield lies in Switzerland, north of the town of Emmen and northwest of Lucerne. Air traffic control is provided by Skyguide National, the military branch of Skyguide.

Runways

Emmen has a single physical runway, 04/22, of hard surface construction and lit for night operations; the two published lengths are 7,841 ft (runway 04) and 7,625 ft (runway 22). There is no ILS. Both runway ends are additionally equipped with retractable arresting gear, used operationally by the F/A-18C Hornet and, in the event of a problem, by the F-5E Tiger (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmen_Air_Base).

Radio & Navigation

Published frequencies for Emmen are: Aerodrome (arrival/departure) 36.052 MHz and 119.5 MHz, Approach 140.775 MHz, Information 138.05 MHz, and Tower 120.425 MHz. Air traffic control is delivered by Skyguide National, the military arm of Swiss air navigation services. No ILS is available at the field.

Joining & Circuit Procedures

Specific published joining or circuit procedures are not detailed in the available material, though pilots should note the presence of retractable arresting gear at both runway ends, reflecting the field's continued use for fast-jet training and alternate operations.

History

The Municipal Assembly of Emmen voted in 1938 to contribute CHF 200,000 towards construction of the airfield, and the first landing took place on 7 July 1939. A 600 m hard surface runway with a 600 m cross runway was built in 1940, extended to a 700 m concrete runway in 1942, to 1,100 m in 1946, and to 2,500 m in 1957. F+W Emmen (today RUAG Aerospace), based at the field, built and flew the first Swiss jet fighter, the N-20.2 Arbalète, now preserved in the Swiss Museum of Transport; the related N-20:10 Aiguillon prototype, built at Emmen, was restricted to taxi trials on the runway after the programme was cancelled and is now displayed at the Flieger-Flab-Museum. Over the decades Emmen has hosted every type operated by the Swiss Air Force, including the de Havilland Vampire, de Havilland Venom, Aérospatiale Alouette II and III, Hawker Hunter, Dassault Mirage IIIS and Mirage IIIRS. The Patrouille Suisse aerobatic team has been based at Emmen since 1994 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmen_Air_Base; https://www.vtg.admin.ch/en/emmen-airbase).

The Airfield Today

Emmen remains a front-line Swiss Air Force station, used as a training and alternate airfield for jet and propeller aircraft and for the ADS 15 reconnaissance UAV programme, though no jet squadron is permanently stationed there. Current units and activities include the Patrouille Suisse aerobatic team, the Air Force Pilot School Command training on the Pilatus PC-21 and PC-7, jet flying squadron training and operational flights with F-5 Tiger and F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, the drone command, a simulator training centre covering the Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma, Eurocopter EC635 and Pilatus PC-21, and factory and test flights flown by RUAG Aviation and armasuisse on behalf of the Swiss Air Force. The Armed Forces Logistics Organisation provides logistics support and the Command Support Organisation assists with communications and command-and-control systems. Emmen is the home base of three armasuisse aircraft: a Pilatus PC-12, a Pilatus PC-6 and a Diamond DA42. Civilian use is permitted only on a limited scale, with RUAG Aviation managing an annual quota of 1,000 civilian flight movements, including its own test flights and occasional heavy-lift transport of rocket payload fairings using chartered Antonov An-124 aircraft; occasional civil air events are also held during the military summer flying break. Any civilian flying at Emmen requires prior permission.</br>