Die Flugzeuge und Hubschrauber des Österreichischen Bundesheeres: Airplanes and Helicopters of the Austrian Armed Forces From 1955 to Today

With the signing of the Austrian State Treaty on 15 May 1955, which restored the sovereignty of Austria and fixed the withdrawal of the Allied occupying forces until the end of the same year, the immediate establishment of the new Austrian Air Force began. Thus, on 15 July 1955, the Office of National Defence was established in the Federal Chancellery, and on the following 13 September under the direction of Major Josef Bizek, a pilot, who previously had served in the so-called B-Gendarmerie (a camouflage, since by the Allied occupying powers an official army was not yet allowed) the subordinate department III / L (air), which then had only two employees and a modest office in the Dominican Bastion in the 1st district of Vienna, was created. The construction of the Austrian Air Force was considerably more difficult than that of the Austrian Army, which could draw on the staff and equipment of the B-Gendarmerie, which had been founded before the signing of the Austrian State Treaty and had been equipped by the United States of America with equipment and weapons for about 6000 men.

The actual birth of the Austrian Air Force was the 9 December 1955. On that day the police lieutenant colonel Gustav Hauck started at 10:01 am for the first time from Air base Brumowski in Langenlebarn in Lower Austria with the locally assembled Yakovlev Yak-18 (3A-AB) – a gift from the Soviet Union –, this being after a more than 17.5 years break the first flight of an airplane with Austrian markings. Shortly thereafter, the training of experienced pilots and ground personnel was started with these Yak-18 training plane. The original equipment of the Austrian Armed Forces was on land and in the air quite modest and consisted mainly of gifts and very cheaply acquired, used equipment of the former occupying powers. Thus, at the beginning of 1956, the Austrian Air Force had only four Yakovlev Yak-11 and Yak-18 for basic training – gifts from the USSR – and one Bell 47G2 helicopter acquired in France. Therefore, the most urgent task was to procure modern flying equipment. During these months, the Federal Ministry of Defence received offers from various manufacturers and distributors for some modern aircraft types, ranging from the Dassault Mystere IV to the De Havilland Vampire and the Hispano Aviacion HA-200 Saeta to the North American F-86 Sabre.
On the following pages all types of airplanes and helicopters bought and leased by the Austrian Armed Forces from 1955 to the present day are listed chronologically.

German:

Mit der Unterzeichnung des Österreichischen Staatsvertrages am 15. Mai 1955 begann auch der Aufbau der neuen Österreichischen Luftstreitkräfte. So wurde am 15. Juli 1955 im Bundeskanzleramt das Amt für Landesverteidigung etabliert, und am folgenden 13. September entstand unter der Leitung von Major Josef Bizek die untergeordnete Abteilung III/L (Luft).

Zur tatsächlichen Geburtsstunde der neuen Österreichischen Luftstreitkräfte wurde der 9. Dezember 1955. Als an diesem Tag der Polizei-Oberstleutnant Gustav Hauck mit der vor Ort zusammengebauten Jakowlew Jak-18 – einem Geschenk der Sowjetunion – um 10:01 Uhr erstmals vom Fliegerhorst Brumowski im niederösterreichischen Langenlebarn startete, war dies nach mehr als 17,5 Jahren Pause der erste Flug einer Maschine mit österreichischen Markierungen. Die Erstausrüstung des Österreichischen Bundesheeres zu Lande und in der Luft kann als bescheiden bezeichnet werden und bestand hauptsächlich aus Geschenken und günstig erworbenem, gebrauchtem Gerät der ehemaligen Besatzungsmächte.

Der Luftfahrtexperte Rudolf Höfling dokumentiert in diesem Buch in Bild und Text alle vom Österreichischen Bundesheer beschafften und geleasten Flugzeug- und Hubschraubertypen von 1955 bis zur Gegenwart, von der Jakowlew Jak-18 und der Bell 47G2 über die Saab J29F Tonne bis hin zum Saab 35OE Draken und zum Eurofighter EF 2000.