What I think Samedan gets a lot of is a cloud layer high above it, which makes it impossible to cancel IFR at say FL180 and continue genuinely visually. The cloudbase at the airport might be 8000ft and it is tempting to descend through it
This is not the same as the Trier crash which on the face of it seems to have been a completely hopeless mission into low lying fog which IME never has a meaningful “cloudbase” under it.
With an 8,000’ ceiling you could let down into Bergamo and transit VMC?
‘And Trier…… doesn’t mean it is a good idea though’
If the Citation hadnt hit the pylon at 8m agl it would probably have taken out a few houses (between the crash site and the runway) along
with a number of innocent people on the ground.
Who do these people think they are?
And I agree a let down through cloud to a safe altitude can be a different thing but a DIY approach in mountainous areas has all sorts of problems not least the go around.
The risks are a different order of magnitude from doing a DIY in a relatively flat place like the UK.
Samedan has become very watchful of such practices after a few highly publicised jet crashes. DIY procedures are a bad idea in any case, but particularly in Samedan they can bite. Follow the rules and you’re fine, but you end up with quite a steep bill. Was there last year, in summer, on night stop and a bill of around CHF 160 I believe it was.
Approach over Zernez (the town visible)
Downwind 03
Turning final.
With a cloud cover, things look different but are still flyable often enough.
Overhead Davos, direction Flüela Pass
Near S’Chanf
Long final 21
Short final 21.
and a few minutes later, great sunshine… Showing, the weather can change drastically there.
For the original question, there are quite a few airports around, but some of them are slightly small. I don’t know what the runway requirements are, but if 500 m asphalt are ok, there are several interesting destinations.
If you need IFR, Altenrhein (LSZR) is certainly a good option, from there, skiing in Austria or Switzerland is reachable in 40 mins to 2 hours.
Bern (LSZB) is very close to the Skiing areas in the Bernese Alps and usually quite accomodating.
VFR, if the runway is long enough, Bad Razaz LSZE is very close to the skiing, approach and runway are on the interesting side. Unfortunately they only have customs for based aircraft, so I reckon that one can be scratched of the list….
Otherwise, Hohenems is not too far from there either.
Wangen Lachen (LSPV) has customs (PPR) and a 500 m runway in a very scenic environment. Skiing available within 30 minutes, Flumserberge, Glarnerland.
Buochs (LSZC) is very close to the skiing in central Switzerland. It does have customs but is PPR.
Saanen (LSGK) is next door to Gstaad and very close to the skiing. They have full service, (Customs, e.t.c.) and can take even small jets. I think you have been there Philipp.
In Austria, Zell am See (LOWZ) or St. Johann (LOIJ) come to mind.
So there are quite a few possibilities. Most of them I’d say are useable if one plans ahead a bit.
>Samedan has become very watchful of such practices after a few highly publicised jet crashes.
I’m not so sure about that. Last time I was there the depature sector 21 was blocked with solid clouds. We went for the 03 with a light tail wind but blue skies. It was high season before xmas and the whole jet fleet Citations, Gulfstreams etc. went right into the cloud clearly going IMC shortly after take off and nobody complained.
Besides Samedan is a great airfield for skiing. It is expensive but when you compare that to the overall costs of a GA skiing trip I would pay and enjoy the view from the ski slope on your parked aircraft. I think the winter landing fee up to 2000kg from abroad is 128 CHF + VAT plus 80 CHF parking per 24h if you stay longer than 2 hours. Apparently in low season they are not so precise about these 2 hours.
Samedan is great fun, but I wouldn’t play with it in dodgy weather (anything less than 2000 feet clear sky above the passes). IMO any cloud breaks should be done to the south, with a VFR join between the mountains.
Bad Ragaz is quite frankly marginal in almost any useful touring machine (maybe a King Katmai is the right machine?). I went in in a lightly loaded PA28 witha local instructor, and there is no way I would repeat the rwy 30 approach without a lot more practice! Have a look here .
Bad Ragaz used to house the Mooney representative and maintenance facility… Quite amazing if you think about it. I´ve been there twice, once in a C150 and in a Travel Air (pax). So far, I have not gone there with the Mooney myself, but there are several based there. You definitly need your speed control and performance calcs in order. I would think the major problem for my plane would be the landing, take off performance I got more than plenty, but flying the 30 approach with a slippery plane might result in interesting situations.
Mind, Wangen Lachen has several Mooneys, amongst them one of the last flying Mustangs (M22). And it is practically the same lenght, but wider and less obstacles.
Samedan, well, those who simply climb out through IMC, while acting illegaly, have not much danger of hitting anything. Approaches into that valley are another story altogether. Stlll, they should be really careful as their operation is closely monitored by the authorities. Samedan can not afford another screw up by the biz jet crowd unless they want to face much worse restrictions than they have now.
Bad Ragaz used to house the Mooney representative and maintenance facility
Switzerland must be populated with true sky gods! How do you get an Ovation into there?
You definitly need your speed control and performance calcs in order. I would think the major problem for my plane would be the landing, take off performance I got more than plenty, but flying the 30 approach with a slippery plane might result in interesting situations.
One end you have a castle on a hill, the other end there is a set of power lines. Taking off is OK, landing is a real bitch…
Wangen-Lachen is a bit short – but shouldn’t be an issue for most singles (certainly anything up to a TB20 or M20r is fine). Might be a problem on a hot day though – at 30C the density altitude would approach 4k feet.
