A big thanks to Nabil Dabbagh and my friend Hani, his father, for this great video trip report about their trip to Croatia.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD3fdnBCfQw&w=480]
Cool soaring above the Alps promotional video
Hat tip to FlightSchoolList.com for finding and posting a really cool two part promotional video for the LOEWE Company that was made by Castor-Film Production and filmed in the Lake Constance region of Austria and Switzerland. Apparently, the film was shot off a Dornier D0 27 HDCam over the course of three days and just makes you want to take a flying or gliding trip over the Alps!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RbE_IxDzDw&w=480]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc7xDhaxMtA&w=480]
Gliding in the Alps in HD video
This is probably the most beautiful bit of aviation filming I have ever seen. It’s just gorgeous. It’s mostly film taken from a glider in the mountains around Sion in Switzerland at 10,000-21,000 feet. If you’ve never flown before, this film will explain why we do it. It’s worth clicking on the ‘full screen’ button just to see it in all its HD glory.
Geneva to Palma by Piper
It was a clear blue sky over a clear blue sea, and we were cruising at 130kts, Palma de Mallorca beckoning, and all was well with the world.
We had departed from Montpellier Candillargues an hour earlier, our Piper Dakota fully fueled with 72 gallons of Avgas, yellow life vests over us, and a life raft that was somewhat uselessly stored in the luggage compartment. We had been handed over from Marseille Information to Barcelona, and for a while there was only silence on the radio, and we were contemplating the beautiful scenery and how incredibly privileged we were.
Montpellier Candillargues airport
Grenchen (LSZG)
Grenchen airport is located in the Three Lakes Region, at the foot of the Jura mountain range, an area offering a lot for opportunities if you want to wander in beautiful Swiss landscapes. It is a controlled airport and homebase of several flight scools. The main concrete runway is used by engined aircraft and gliders use the grass runway. On nice VFR day the traffic can be dense and go-arounds caused by blocked runway are not unusual.
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Some of the airport neighboors are quite active in their fight against aircraft noise so it is important to follow the published procedures as strictly as possible. The VRPs are easy to find, and the nearby river offers a lot of reference points. Note that there are two circuits, both to the south. Depending the type of aircraft you fly with you’ll have to use the inner or the outer circuit.
Grenchen has a VOR-DME approach to runway 25. It is probably the longest approach in Switzerland. It starts at the WIL VOR. Bern approach will clear you for the approach which consists of leaving WIL on a north-west radial, flying towards the Jura mountain, partly below the tops. At this very moment, you’ll be flying directly at the mountain, waiting for intercepting a radial of the Grenchen VOR to fly parallel to the mountain, to the field. You’d better not miss it, as terrain is only a few miles away. A wrong radial setting could have very negative consequences. And at this very moment, Bern approach will tell you “Radar Service Terminated, contact Grenchen Tower on Frequency …”. On your own, possibly IMC, flying to a mountain.
The interception is a rather slow one as it occurs at a DME distance of 17.5 nautical miles. Lot of time to stabilize the approach. Note that the radial is not exactly lined-up with the runway so when the time comes to look outside for landing, don’t expect the runway exactly in front of the aircraft’s nose. The ruwnay is long enough for light jets to operate there and there are no notable obstructions in the axis. The IFR departure is interesting beause it partly makes use of Bern ILS. The climb performance required to remain in controlled airspace is higher than usual, so be sure you can do it.
You can reach the train station with a 20 minutes walk, check www.sbb.ch for the timetables. From there you ride to Bienne (en francais) / Biel (in German) and enjoy a walk along the shores of the lake. You can also get a bit more to the south-west and stroll along the “Ile St-Pierre” on the Bielersee (lac de Bienne, en francais).
Les Eplatures (LSGC)
I always liked flying to Les Eplatures (a.k.a. Lezep). It is the first airport discovered “all by myself” after getting my PPL and it is the last place where I renewed my IFR beore leaving Switzerland. Located in the center of the Jura mountain range, at the Swiss – France boundary in north-western Switzerland, it’s a good entry point for flying in Switzerland.
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Les Eplatures is at 3’300 feet, in a mountainous area. The Jura range is not as peak-ish as the Alps, but some precautions are required, the first one being to get informed about runway status before departure. Check NOTAMs / SNOWTAMs before departure, preferably same day. The airport is well equipped but if more than one meter of snow falls within the night, don’t expect it to be open at 8am… Copies of the Swiss AIP pages for both VFR and IFR are publised on the website, but they are not for operational use. These winter conditions can start as early as October and last until end of April.
The second tip relating to altitude is about performance. Take-off and landing distances increase with altitude and climb performance is reduced. The runway is 1130 meters long and even if some light jets and turboprops operate there, you should not simply assume that your single engine piston can do it with all seats occupied.
Les Eplatures is a controlled (US readers, understand towered) airport. If you depart VFR, don’t miss the climb-out via “La Vue des Alpes”, literally “Sight of the Alps”. On unlimited visibility days, it’s memorable. The IFR approach and departure service is provided by “Geneva Delta”. The IFR procedures are as in the text books, nothing special. A full ILS and a NDB / DME procedures are published. There are buildings really close to the airport on final for runway 24. The very last picture below has been taken from during a normal approach, without any special zoom…
It is possible to depart IFR from Les Eplatures but if weather permit a joining en-route can save you some time. Depending of the runway in use and availability of military airspace, some SIDs call for a climb to FL110 in the holding pattern.
Les Eplatures is located between the cities of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle. This is heart of the Watch Valley, where many Swiss watches factories are based. La Chaux-de-Fonds is also known as the birthplace of Le Corbusier, the well known architect. It is the sole city in Switzerland whose urbanism is based on parallel streets, giving it a somewhat American look.