Just one Swiss Air Force squadron flies the rugged Pilatus PC-6, and it puts its militia pilots to the test with demanding rough-field operations. Peter Lewis finds out what makes Air Transport Squadron 7 a unique unit within the Swiss armed forces. Swiss Air Force PC-6
Swiss Air Force PC-6
Captain Mark Stuber checks through the flight manifest on the flight deck of the SWISS Boeing 777-300ER. It’s a fairly full flight for the scheduled 12-hour transit to Los Angeles International Airport. Flight LX40 has five first-class, 46 business and 213 economy passengers and will be taking off at a weight of more than 300 tonnes. Captain Stuber looks over the calculated take-off distances on his tablet and compares them to his charts for a runway 16 departure from Zürich Airport. The longest of Zürich’s runways stretches 12,139ft (3,700m) and is normally used for daytime departures when the lunchtime exodus of SWISS transatlantic flights leave this busy hub. With doors closed, slides armed and the cabin set for departure, Captain Stuber powers up the two GE90 engines after pushback from the midfield terminal to join the queue for runway 16.
One week later, Captain Stuber has dropped his civilian guise and wears…
