Alpnach and Buochs (Stans)

On Monday 16th March IrishAirPics paid a visit to two air bases / airports in Switzerland; Alpnach and Buochs (Stans). Alpnach is predominantly a helicopter base while Buochs is where the Pilatus factory is located.

Photography at Swiss air bases & airports is generally good with the spotter & photographer being well catered for. Combined with the fact that some airports do not have fences, sometimes roads double as taxiways and some runways have a road or two crossing them, the photographic possibilities are good.

The pictures from Alpnach were taken from either a raised platform complete with seating or standing on a road / taxiway. The Buochs pictures were taken from either a public road that crossed the runway or a footpath that ran parallel to the runway.

Unfortunately Alpnach was visited too late in the afternoon for good taxiway shots as the sun had come around too much, Alpnach is best visited in the morning when the sun is at your back. The lighting at Buochs was similar to that at Alpnach except this time the sun was pretty much straight down the runway and the aircraft were landing into the sun.

I would recommend a visit to Alpnach / Stans / Meiringen / most airports in Switzerland for that matter, it should be done sooner rather than later though. Meiringen is to have a fence erected around the base in the near future and who knows what airport / air base is next.