100 years swisstopo flight service

Since 1926, the swisstopo flight service has been documenting Switzerland from a bird’s-eye view. Year after year, high-resolution aerial photos are created, which serve as the basis for the maps. The commemorative stamps focus on the Twin Otter, a specially equipped surveying aircraft. Thanks to its flying properties, even narrow valleys, high altitudes and remote regions can be recorded reliably and accurately. In addition to the swisstopo maps, the images are used to create orthophotos, three-dimensional landscape models, providing the data required for environmental observation, spatial planning and research.

The stamps pay tribute to a century of pioneering work from the air and highlight just how much modern orientation is based on the view from above.