I have been amusing myself looking at some of the Backcountry Aviation videos and the STOL techniques used to get into some of them.
Naturally backcountry/bush flying is associated with sparsely populated areas. I like the idea of a land/camp/walk/fish etc approach to flying, but don’t want to have to go to Idaho or Utah to do so. Generally Europe seems too heavily populated for this but are there some parts where it is done (maybe Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Norway?).
And is there an electronic source of European ‘backcountry strips’ ? Of course the term means different things to different people, but I would characterise them as unpaved, probably unmanned (definitely no flight training school), probably max 500m and in the middle of nowhere). And, of course, they shouldn’t have Avgas, Customs or an IAP of any kind!
North of Sweden has a bit of this. Aviation is not as widespread as in Canada or Alaska but shares the same attributes. Lots of seaplanes etc.
TJ wrote:
I would characterise them as unpaved, probably unmanned (definitely no flight training school), probably max 500m and in the middle of nowhere). And, of course, they shouldn’t have Avgas, Customs or an IAP of any kind!
Many of the airfields in Avioportolano would qualify for this except for perhaps your definition of “middle of nowhere”. If you mean no people within 100nm, then you need to go to Scandinavia. But if you mean no major centres within 20nm then many of the strips in Italy would qualify. But you’d be more likely able to camp and go swimming than camp and go fishing.
TJ wrote:
Of course the term means different things to different people, but I would characterise them as unpaved, probably unmanned (definitely no flight training school), probably max 500m and in the middle of nowhere). And, of course, they shouldn’t have Avgas, Customs or an IAP of any kind!
In Norway it is not allowed to use “engine driven” vehicles in “utmark”. “utmark” = everywhere that is not not “utmark”, seriously that is roughly the definition, and it’s a bit hard to get a grasp of. For most practical purposes it means you cannot use “engine driven” vehicles unless it is on cultivated ground (a grass field for instance, that would become woodlands if you didn’t cut the grass), or ground that has been set aside for this special use (an airstrip). This does not include the fjords or the shoreline of marine waters, where you are free to do whatever you want. It doesn’t either include roads. You are free to land on roads. But, to take your sea plane and go to any lake you want, like you can in Sweden, you cannot do in Norway. Which is a pity indeed.
There are tons of small grass strips here though. Strips that are in the middle of “nowhere”, and are perfect places to set up a tent and do some fishing and so on. Was on the way to Vinnu today in the Cub, but had to return over Trondheim due to zero vis. The weather on the other side of the mountain (at Vinnu) was excellent though. One case where EIR actually would save the day hmmmm, but not in the Cub though.
Here is Vinnu (it’s 600m grass, so OK for most private GA planes, and excellent fishing and hiking place)
This nice video sums up off airport flying further South in Europe!
Nice video. I think if you look for it, you will find nice places like that almost anywhere. It reminded me, some sea plane pilots in Norway are almost finished with a book/map thing. It is connected to Google maps, and an easy search will give the position of all the sea plane places they have gone through. The book will also include fishing possibility, how to get fuel, shopping and so on. It turns out that the “utmark” was more complex. Lakes that are larger than 2 square km are exempted, but it is up to the local authority and/or the private owner to decide if for instance sea planes can use it. So it really is a jungle to find out, I would say close to impossible for a non native speaker. So far they have a good bunch (orders of magnitude more than I thought), mostly in southern part of Norway, but will extend it further (also some in Sweden):
The link is here
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Yes there is backcountry flying in Europe.
There also some Swiss/ French guys flying to small airstrips or private fields but I can’t find them right now.
Here we go…
…and many more, as you can see from the link list when in YouTube….
In France and neighbouring countries there are some technically interesting mountain airstrips (and plenty of mundane ones which are just sloping hayfields) but they’re all officially approved or authorised and none are “backcountry” in the sense that you’re always within a few hours’ walk of a human settlement.
All of these altisurfaces are, mown, rolled or otherwise “improved” for use with ordinary landing gear – and even with wheel spats. Most have one or more windsocks.
Even La Salette, which is perhaps top of the “interesting” category, has a tarmac road next to it.
The same is pretty well true of Scotland, some parts are a bit wilder than Hyde Park, but there’s no real backcountry here.
Bosnia:
