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.
Bern (LSZB)
Bern is the Federal Capital of Switzerland and is a nice small city to visit. The airport is a bit far from the city center but it is connected by bus and train, and taxi is always an option. There are a couple of airline landings and departure per day but the airport is not that busy. It offers all possible facilities: controlled airspace, ILS and NDB approaches to runway 14, customs (remember, Switzerland is not in the European Union), restaurant, and a nice tower café… more on that later.
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The main concrete runway is more than 1’500 meters long and there is one 600 meters parallel grass runway. VFR operations are quite straightforward and the VFR reporting points are easy to find… with the noticeable exception of “W”. This one is shown on the chart as the point where a motorway enters the city… but there is no clear “city boundary” in the real world. The FRI VOR / DME or your favorite GPS are your friends. Maintain a good watch of ATC and other traffics. Patterns exist on both sides of runway. The airport is located between hills that makes it a bit hard to spot but there is more than enough room for manoeuvers. Click here to see my video of a VFR arrival and departure from Bern.
After landing have an eye for your ground chart, your taxi clearance will be something like “Blue 3” or “Red 5”. The coloured lines do not start directly at each taxiway so a bit of preparation makes it much easier. Don’t forget to pay your approach, landing and parking fee before leaving the airport.
The IFR procedures are a bit complex, because of the surrounding hills. Approach starts at FRI or WIL, then to one of the 3 NDBs used for the approach, outbound and procedure turn to the final course. Bern Approach is radar equipped and usually provides radar vectoring. The trickiest thing is the IFR departure from runway 14. It starts with a left turn at 0.9 DME, then left back towards the NDB on the airport when passing 2’500 feet. This positioning results in a left turn parallel entry into the right-turns hold, and all gets very quickly. I got lost in this holding once, during my IFR training.
The local “hot spot” is the old tower, displayed on this picture behind the terminal, with the antenna on top. It has been reconverted in a small coffee shop. I never really understood the opening times, and it is often quite full, but it is really worth a visit.
Bern is located directly north of the Alps and is a good base-camp if you plan a visit to Switzerland and some alpine flying. The Jungfraujoch and Aletsch glacier are 30 miles to the south-east and from there you can descend the Rhône Valley to Sion or continue to the south towards the Simplon and Lugano, or turn left and fly to Buochs, or Samedan.
The official Bern city website offers plenty of tourist information. The city’s name comes from the German “Baeren” which means Bears evolved to “Bern”. The city’s flag still shows a bear and one of the curiosities – which I can’t really call a must – is the bear pit (Baerengraben) in the old town, where two to three bears are living and can be seen. Click here for a YouTube video of the bears pit.
Gruyère (LSGT)
Gruyère certainly makes you think of a delicious Swiss cheese (and for my Swissness sake, it has NO holes…the holed one is Emmental), but is also the name of the region where this cheese comes from and it has its airfield. If you ever come to fly in Switzerland and are not affraid of grass runways, a visit to Gruyère is a must. The airport is located at the southern end of the “Lac de la Gruyère” and has a 811 meters long grass runway.. and some obsctructions. The prescribed circuit track must be strictly respected to avoid troubles with airport neighboors. All details can be found on the airport’s website (unfortunately in French only…). Note that a prior permission is required (per telephone: +41 26 921 00 40) and that no take-offs are allowed between 12h00 and 13h30LT.
The pattern is like a mini scenic flight, specially for runway 35: turn base around the castle hill, intercept the river, and join long final along the river. On runway 17, fly along the lake, low over the trees on final, and land.
Take-off performance can be an issue, so consider short-field technique. For non-swiss pilots, the airport altitude might sound unusual: 2’257 feet. Combine this with temperatures in the 25°C range during summer and you’ll probably be out of your usual area on the take-off performance graph. Early lift-off and acceleration in the ground effect is recommended, particularly when the grass is long. I remember looking at the trees by threshold 17 nervously during some take-offs while accelerating in ground effet, and finally rocket towards the sky and feel relaxed when finally seeing the lake.
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This video includes a take-off on runway 35 with a DA40 and illustrates ground-effect acceleration… For info, we were two on board, with minimum fuel for a short trip. Note the road across runway during take-off roll, and how close to the obstacles we are. The video is quite long, and the Gruyère segment starts at 7:40.
The airport restaurant is a large Swiss chalet and offers coffee with double Gruyère cream. If you come during spring or early summer you can also have blueberries in cream and getting it on top of a meringue is an option to be seriously considered. The restaurant offers delicious grilled meat and the castle can be seen from the terasse. The airport offers bike rentals for 5 CHF for three hours to ride along the lake and discover the area.
The castle of Gruyères can be visited and regularly hosts art exhibitions or musical events. Surprisingly, it is also the home of the H.R. Giger Museum. If you don’t know him, H. R. Giger is a world-known swiss painter and sculptor who created his very personal style often qualified of “fascinating biomechanical”. One of his best-known creation is the Alien – yes, from the “Alien” movie.
Visit the official Gruyère tourist office’s official website to find more activities, including hiking, spas, cableways, and much more. And please remember: Gruyère cheese has no holes.