Departure
92%
vs 95% ▼ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Turtmann Air Base is a former Swiss Air Force mountain airfield in the Rhone valley near the village of Turtmann in the canton of Valais, notable for its long single hard runway, cavern hangars carved into the surrounding mountainside, and dramatic alpine setting. Closed to regular Swiss military flying in 2003, the field is chiefly of interest to simulator pilots for its history as a Cold War-era militia fighter base rather than as an active civil aerodrome.
Turtmann Air Base sits in the Rhone valley at Turtmann in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, at an elevation of 2051 feet. It was built as a Swiss Air Force militia base with aircraft dispersed and sheltered in mountain caverns, and is best known among enthusiasts for hosting Hunter, PC-7 and F-5 Tiger operations during annual refresher courses before its closure in 2003. For a simulator pilot the appeal lies in the setting: a long single runway hemmed in by steep valley walls, with cave hangar entrances visible in the rock face, making it a striking and technically demanding alpine strip to fly into.
The airfield lies in the Rhone valley at Turtmann, in the Swiss canton of Valais, with the surrounding terrain rising sharply into the Valais Alps on both sides of the valley. No specific airspace classification, controlling authority or nearby controlled airspace detail is available for this closed military field.
Turtmann has a single hard-surfaced runway aligned 08/26. The 08 threshold is listed at 7057 feet and the 26 threshold at 6868 feet, giving a long runway by alpine standards, well suited to the fast jets that once operated from the base. There is no ILS.
No published radio callsign, frequencies or navaids are associated with the field, and there is no instrument approach; any historical air-to-ground or military control arrangements are not documented in available material.
No joining, circuit or noise-abatement procedures are documented for this closed military airfield.
The airfield lies immediately alongside a main road through the Turtmann valley, with the runway and cavern hangar entrances visible in the mountainside on the far side of the road from the village; the main street of Turtmann itself passed close to the flight line during wartime exercises, giving a clear visual link between the village and the airfield for anyone approaching from the valley floor.
Turtmann was one of the Swiss Air Force's classic mountain air bases, built with aircraft sheltered in caverns cut into the valley side; at its peak the cavern complex is said to have housed more than twenty-five aircraft. The base was normally dormant, opening for only a few weeks each year to host the Wiederholungskurs, the annual repetition course during which militia pilots flying types such as the Hawker Hunter, Pilatus PC-7 and Northrop F-5 Tiger returned to currency. The base's Fliegerstaffel 2 squadron was formally disbanded there, and 2003 marked the final year of flying activity, with a last Wiederholungskurs and a farewell exercise, marked at the time by special commemorative paint schemes on departing aircraft, bringing regular Swiss military flying at Turtmann to a close.
Regular Swiss Air Force flying ended at Turtmann in 2003 following the final Wiederholungskurs and the disbanding of the resident squadron. The airfield subsequently saw occasional use by the United States Navy's VFC-13 'Saints' adversary squadron, but it is no longer an active base for routine Swiss military or civil operations.