Crash at the Furka Pass Swiss Air Force 27.August 1962

Double training course Fl St 20. Three patrols from Fliegerstaffel 20 had orders to penetrate the Furka over the Gotthard into Upper Valais as part of the maneuvers of the Mountain Army Corps 3 and to attack the troops on the March there with rockets and Canons.

The three patrols of three Venoms each started from Mollis at seven-minute intervals from 5:50 p.m. While the first and third patrols over the Urserental at over 4000 m above sea level. climbed, passed the Furka above the cloud Cover and arrived safely in the Upper Valais, the second patrol chose the direct route over the pass, where the weather conditions were poor.

The three witnesses on the ground saw the three Venoms flying into the clouds in Parade Formation (i.e. with a distance of about 70 Meters between the aircraft). A witness was standing near the barracks village north of the Hotel Furkablick and suddenly heard loud aircraft noise coming from the east, followed by an Explosion with firelight and shrapnel hitting everywhere.

It was Erwin Hofer's Venom. The location of the debris from the other two aircraft later led to the conclusion that the pilots had made an evasive movement to the upper left (south) after penetrating the compact cloud layer.

All three pilots, the commercial Pilot Kurt Gruber, who worked for Globe Air, the technical employee Erwin Hofer and the mechanic Wilhelm Vogele, died on the spot.

Model

The model is a Micro Mir Kit from Ukraine in 1:48 Scale, the Kit contains clean Plastics Parts, nice Canopy and etched parts. The Surface Structure such as rivets, sheet metal joints, tank caps and maintenance covers are clearly reproduced.

The Construction is progressing well but is suitable for the skilled model builder as there are small parts and you have to be a little careful when gluing.

I still had to engrave four covers, left and right on the front Wing Nose and then on the (Flent) Wing outer tank.

It is important that you put enough lead in the Nose otherwise the Venom will tip over onto its tail. To paint I used different Colors from Humbrol, Revell and a watercolor mixture.

It won't be the last Venom as there are different Color variants. See Decals at Matterhorncircel, I can warmly recommend the Decals for me they are the best as the workmanship and printing are Excellent.

http://www.mc-one.ch/Documents/new/new-1.htm

https://www.flieger-hanspeter.ch/Unfall-Furka-27-.-August-1962.htm

13 additional images. Click to enlarge.