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The F/A-18 Hornet Solo Display is an aerobatics team of the Swiss Air Force. It derives its name from the F/A-18.

History

The F/A-18 Hornet Solo Display was founded shortly after the introduction of the F/A-18 Hornet in the Swiss Air Force in 1997. The mission of the F/A-18 solo display it is to show the flight performance and maneuverability of the F/A-18 at home and abroad at various air shows to visitors. From 1997 to 1998 the team was made of two display pilots, Stéphane "Punzel» Rapaz and Werner "Höffi" Hoffmann (Werner Hoffman today is the Commander of the PC-7 Team). Since 1999, the F/A-18 Hornet Solo Display has one display pilot only, which is often accompanied abroad by a former or future F/A-18 Hornet display pilot on the flight demonstrations. This is normally with a second F/A-18C as a reserve on the spot. Unlike the formation flight of view and with the support by the team commander on the ground, as with the Patrouille Suisse or the PC-7 Team, the F/A-18 Solo Display is not flown at sight or radio as Refernz but a program based on numbers, engine performance, angle of attack angle, speednumbers, climb & descents.The display is made with F/A-18C (single seat) without external loads, whenever it is possible from the F/A-18 fleet availability, the squadron maircraft is used by the squadron in which the current F/A-18 Hornet Solo Display pilot is a member. These are J-5011 Squadron 11 Tigers, J-5017 of the Squadron 17 Falcons or the J-5018 Squadron 18 Panthers. Is the Sqadron aircraft not available, the display will be flown with any F/A-18C. An exception was the first official flight demonstration of Stéphane "Punzel» Rapaz who completed it with the F/A-18D J-5233 and the flight demonstration at MAKS Airshow 2013 in Moscow where the flight demonstration with the F/A-18D (double seater) J-5232 was flown with attached wing tanks. Home base is Payerne Air Base.

Awards

The team has won several awards since its inception, for example

Paul Bowen Solo Jet Aerobatic Trophy 2006, 2007, 2009
2.Rank for «the most accurate, polish and safe display» 2012
Commander Trophy for «best military display» 2012

Pilots

Nicolas «Vincent» Rossier Fliegerstaffel 17 since 2017–
Julien «Teddy» Meister Escadrille aviation 17 2014-2017
Bernhard «Beni» Kocher Fliegerstaffel 18 2013
Ralph «Deasy» Knittel Fliegerstaffel 17 2010-2012 & MAKS 2013
Thomas «Pipo» Peier Fliegerstaffel 18 2007-2009
Michael «Elvis» Reiner Fliegerstaffel 11 2004-2007
Patrick «Dähli» Dähler Fliegerstaffel 11 2001-2003
Frédéric «Styff» Ryff Fliegerstaffel 17 1999-2000
Werner «Höffi» Hoffmann Fliegerstaffel 11 1997-1998
Stéphane «Punzel» Rapaz Escadrille aviation 17 1997-1998

Sources

Swiss Air Force. "F/A-18 Hornet Solo Display"
Herman Keist Super Puma Display Team
Luzerner Zeitung,(Lucerne Newspaper)
DVD "NO AOA LIMITS" [1]
SAF Herman Keist
inoffical page of sqd17
Aero Club switzerland

External links

F/A-18 Hornet Solo Display Homepage
[2] Youtube SWISS F18 HORNET DEMO - WADDINGTON AIRSHOW 2012
https://www.facebook.com/SwissHornetDisplayTeam on Facebook

References