The Aviation Magazine No. 54 January-February 2018 | Page 40
On September 22nd, The Austrian Air Force celebrated 80 years of Air Base “Aigen im
Ennstal” and 50 years' service with the “Alouette III” .
The Fliegerhorst “Fiala Fernbrugg” (Air Base named after the famous Austro‐
Hungarian fighter pilot Benno Fiala Ritter von Fernbrugg ‐ *1890 ; †1964) in Aigen im
Ennstal was established 80 years ago. The SA 316B Alouette III has been successfully
in service for half a century. This multi role workhorse is ready for all kinds of mission
24/7.
The first four of a total of 29 Alouette’s joined the Austrian Air Force on January
27nd 1967. Currently, 22 of them are still in service. By September 2017, a total of
181 860 flight hours were flown with this type in the Austrian Air Force. Due to the
cost‐intensive spare parts, the type will be decommissioned in 2020.
The official ceremony was opened by officials from politics and military at one of the
ramps at the air base. At the center of the ramp was the specially painted Alouette
III. The paint scheme on the helicopter shows the Grimming, the 2351m high moun‐
tain in front of the Air Base and a big 50 in white and green, for fifty years in service.
The white and green color represent the colors in the Styrian flag. A big red‐white‐
red ribbon, symbolizing Austria, runs from the rear to the front of the helicopter and
ends in an eagle's head. The festival was musically accompanied by the Upper Aus‐
trian military brass band.
The Belgian Navy brought one of their four Allouettes to the event, which took part
in the static and in the one hour flying display. Portugal, also an Alouette user, was
represented by a military delegation, unfortunately without an Alouette.
After the official ceremony and a short break for lunch, the one hour flying display started. It was opened
with a three ship Alouette III formation. The lead helicopter with the flag of the European Union was fol‐
lowed by the second helicopter with the Austrian Flag and the third helicopter with the Styrian flag.
The flying displays with the Alouettes also included SAR‐Missions as well as flights for disaster relief,
like firefighting etc. The old workhorse also shows its capabilities at the frontline. Two Alouettes
brought special ops to the battlefield, while a PC‐7 was giving close air support.
In between the Alouette displays spectators saw several flight demonstrations from the Aus‐
trian Air Force and the Flying Bulls, like the Blanix Team or Sigi Schwarz with his Bo‐105, only
to name a few.
The show ended with a massive start of 14 Alouettes, which performed two flypasts,
lead by the specially painted Austrian Air Force Alouette. Back marker was the Alou‐
ette from the Belgian Navy. The final flypast ended when all 14 helicopters lined up
in one row in front of the crowd. As the last helicopter landed, the first one took
off and bowed in front of the crowd, before he flew back to the parking position.
What an impressive sight!
It was an extraordinary day out with free food and drinks. The Aviation
Magazine would like to express their thanks to the Austrian Air Force and
the local organizers from the Air Force Base at “Aigen im Ennstal”.