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Payerne Airport – LSMP

General Information

Payerne Airport (ICAO: LSMP) is a military airfield of the Swiss Air Force north of Payerne in Switzerland, located approximately halfway between Lausanne and Bern.

On 8 July 2010, Payerne Air Base was the location from which the long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse 1 achieved the world’s first manned 26-hour solar-powered flight. Payerne also became the home base for the successor Solar Impulse 2 (HB-SIB) aircraft, with the aircraft’s first flight made from Payerne on 2 June 2014.

Payerne AFB is the home of the F/A-18 Fighter squadrons Sqd17 Falcons and Sqd18 Panthers, the militia F-5E Tiger II Squadron 6 Ducks, and of the Transport squadron LT1.
Every aircraft type of the Swiss Air Force can be seen operating from Payerne. It is home to the air investigation division of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board “Schweizerische Unfall Untersuchungs Stelle” / SUST (formerly the Swiss Accident Investigation Board). Previously this was the head office of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, before its 2011 merger into the SAIB. Payerne operates also as alternate airport for the airport Bern-Belp for foreign government flights. On the ground of Payerne AFB is also the aviation Museum Clin d’Ailes. Air Traffic Control is made by the military branch of Skyguide, Skyguide National. Payerne is responsible for the education of ground crews (aircraft Mechanic,Airport Fire Fighter,..) of the Air Force. Therefore, Payerne is also the main base of the F/A-18C Mock-up X-5098. The F/A-18 flight simulators are also located in Payerne. The A1 motorway (Switzerland) is connected via a taxiway at the hangar 5 with the airfield and can, if necessary, used as runway for take off – and landing. However, this possibility has never been exploited since the construction of the highway. The air base is, at both end of the runway, equipped with retractable Arresting gear devices (used by the F/A-18 and in case of a problem by the F-5).
Inaugurated in 2013 at Payerne Airport, the company Swiss Space Systems aims to open a spaceport by 2015 and provide orbital launches of small satellites and suborbital spaceflights.
The Aviatic Museum Clin d’Ailes offers private flights with the Hawker Hunter Trainer J-4203 HB-RVW and the Mirage IIIDS J-2012 HB-RDF from Payerne. Today, the airport is civil and military.

Coordinates: N 046° 50′ 33” – E 006° 54′ 49”
Elevation: 1,460 ft / 445 m
Radio communication language: English
Website:  https://www.vtg.admin.ch/de/organisation/kdo-op/lw/flpl-pay.html

ATC Positions

Name

ICAO-Code

Opening restrictions

Frequency

Minimum Rating (FRA)

Payerne Ground

LSMP_GND

None

121.705 Mhz

Payerne Tower

LSMP_TWR

None

128.675 Mhz

Payerne Radar

LSMP_APP

None

136.350 Mhz

Documentation

Handysheet

The Handysheet is a document, which contains all necessary information on one single page.

Charts

Sceneries

FSX

X-Plane