I am planning another flight, to Croatia, via Finsteraahorn, Weisshorn, Matterhorn.
Is it correct that Swiss military will not be flying, so IFR cancellation is sure to work?
Due to wx, it may have to be Friday. Where can one find out their schedules for Friday?
Is it correct that Swiss military will not be flying, so IFR cancellation is sure to work?
We work Monday – Friday, you can assume alpine airspace is controlled between FL130 and FL150 until about 5pm.
Due to wx, it may have to be Friday. Where can one find out their schedules for Friday?
FL150 will be fine for those mountains.
Finsteraarhorn 14022ft plus 500ft
Weisshorn 14783ft plus 500ft
Matterhorn 14692ft plus 500ft
Saturday is bad wx.
Note that above FL150 it is class C airspace by default.
(and just for clarity military flights do not top out at FL150 – ie do not assume that FL151 you are in the clear)
These three are the next plan (shown on the current Swiss chart)
It will be done on a EGKA-LDLO flight. Croatia is accepting dual-vacced+2-weeks people without a test.
I can file MONIN CERVI to get near these points.
No gliding this time; the guy is busy and then wx gets bad. Might be able to on the way back.
The following route validates
EGKA N0152F100 XORBI/N0152F100 IFR H20 BILGO/N0152F140 B3 RLP G4 HOC VFR MONIN DCT CERVI SRN IFR L615 PEXUG/N0152F110 L615 ADOSA L612 CHI L614 LABIN VFR LDLO
The way it was developed, in the Autorouter, was without the VFR section over the Alps, and choosing MONIN and CERVI as fly-by waypoints, but that produced a route only when the fly-by distance was increased from the 15nm default to 50nm. Then the VFR section was dropped in, and amended as needed to get the route to validate.
Total distance 808nm.
I tried to shortcut the detour to Basel but it won’t validate, so I will try it when in the air.
If you fly before 5pm on Friday through the Swiss Alps, you can almost be sure that ATC will send you down to FL130 or below. I’m not so sure if Saturday will have bad weather, the Swiss forecast is quite optimistic. Be also aware of class C before the Alps, starting at FL100 already, in case you want to cancel directly south of Basel. Transit through the Basel TMA (Class D) is however never a problem with Bale Info/APP.
I can do a 0700 UTC departure from Shoreham and that’s my only option, given LDLO early closing time.
They can’t quite send you below FL130 since you can legitimately file IFR down there at/above the MEA, which will usually be FL150-160, or FL180 near Mt Blanc.
Is it just VFR (IFR-cancellations) which they push down?
Sure I will keep the wx under review.
Re CAS, I would be 100% with ATC the whole time, making sure I am cleared on current track.
They can’t quite send you below FL130 since you can legitimately file IFR down there at/above the MEA, which will usually be FL150-160, or FL180 near Mt Blanc.
If you are IFR you cannot be vectored below MEA. You can however be assigned a heading to avoid military traffic…
If you are VFR you can be vectored below MEA (e.g. when your controlled airspace clearance is rescinded) as when leaving controlled airspace terrain avoidance becomes your problem.
Peter wrote:
Is it just VFR (IFR-cancellations) which they push down?Indeed. But if you want to make nice pictures, you need to fly temporary VFR, I guess. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Looks ok for 28th May
