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Aircraft cavern, a calque of the German word ''Flugzeugkaverne'', is an underground hangar amongst others used by the Swiss Air Force. ==Historical== During World War II the neutral Swiss military airfields were for the first time equipped with simple semi round concrete U-43 type shelters protecting the aircraft parked underneath. After World war II, starting in 1947, these open objects became even better protected with steel doors thus creating the U-68 type shelter. Shortly after the World War II and the beginning of the Cold War and a possible escalation between the nuclear superpowers of the East West blocks, the Swiss Air Force began to develop concepts to, as in a case of conflict, defence their neutrality towards the superpowers. In the 1940s the Swiss army already built so-called ''retablierstollen'' (re-equipping caves) at some airfields. These retablierstollen consisted of 100m long straight tunnels excavated in the rocks making it possible to store and eventually re-arm small Swiss fighter aircraft like the then used Messerschmitt BF 109. The dimensions of these tunnels are comparable with an autobahn tunnel. The airfields chosen were Alpnach, Buochs, Meiringen, St.Stephan and Saanen, all located in the mountains with a lot of rocks in the near vicinity of the runway so that the aircraft could be out of sight within minutes after touchdown. In the early 1950s the first larger excavations in the rocks took place creating more space in the existing caves. The space of these excavations was now used to service the aircraft and to execute some minor repairs. The first larger constructions inside the rocks were at the airfields: Ambri, Alpnach, Buochs, Meiringen, Raron and Turtmann becoming operational from 1951-1954. As the Swiss air force modernized and changed its aircraft during the 1960s the excavations, now called ''cavernes'', were further modernized and extended. Underground command & communication posts were constructed together with ammunition and fuel storage facilities, generator and technical rooms to keep the facility running and of course also personnel quarters. From the past until today the cavernes have been used to shelter and service the following aircraft types: * de Havilland DH 100 Vampire * de Havilland D.H.112 Venom * Hawker Hunter F Mk 58 * Dassault Mirage IIIS / RS * Northrop F-5E Tiger II * McDonnell Douglas F/A-18D Hornet BAe Hawk aircraft and Alouette III helicopters have only temporarily been stored in cavernes after being withdrawn from service before being sold to third parties. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Aircraft cavern」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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