06.08.2018: I took the chance to go flying today, even though it was another one of those hot days which characterise this summer. One year ago I did the mandatory replacement of all fuel, water and oil hoses on my SportCruiser, during which I added additional fire sleeves to most water and oil lines which were not speciified when I originally built the plane. The result is that I the water temperature quickly climbs into the yellow range when I climb on takeoff power for a longer period under hot conditions, so I might remove some of these fire sleeves during the next annual maintenance.
17.08.2018: This weekend the Patrouille Suisse, the aerobatics team of the Swiss Air Force, performed at the Motocross Grand Prix of Switzerland in Frauenfeld, the city where I live. I had planned to spend the two days at he EAA Meeting in Yverdon, meaning I would have missed their display, but fortunately they always schedule a rehearsal the day before the actual public display. Below a few pictures of their rehearsal on Friday afternoon:
19.08.2018: I have spent the last two days attending the EAS annual fly-in in Yverdon (LSGY). As usual it was a very nice event, meeting many fellow homebuilders from Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
To get there the weather was a bit on the marginal side over some stretches of the route I took…
…which gave me a good opportunity to test my new iPad based flight planning and navigation software.
Once I go closer to Yverdon the weather improved however, and at the destination there was beautiful sunshine.
Quite a few planes were already there when I arrived, as can be seen below.
I parked my plane and straight put up my tent, not to have to do this in the evening when it is dark.
Below some impressions of the parking are and of some of the a bit more special planes.
Members of the club which are based in Yverdon, or in the area, organised the event. This included a concert by some of them, as well as a Raclette for dinner. It was a great evening, with lot’s of pilots talk as usual…
The weather stayed very nice also on Sunday, here some impressions taken on Sunday morning.
As every year Viktor brought a little camping stove and instant coffee for the early birds, one can also see that a certain brand of camping stool got very popular in homebuilder circles due to it’s low weight and size, once packed.
When I flew home on Sunday afternoon quite some clouds had developed over the alps, which made it a very special return flight. I could have flown along the norther edge of the alps, in what we call the plains, but flying through the alps was definitely more scenic and interesting.
Dani, one of my friends from Lommis flew home at about the same time with his red Kitfox VII, and I saw him several time along the route. We had not agreed on a route, or on flying in formation, but the FLARM anti collision system pointed out his presence each time we got closer to each other. He is the small, red dot in the two pictures below.
Below some more pictures of the clouds, as I have rarely seen them when flying in the alps.
29.08.2018: I managed to go flying again today. I decided to do a tour to at least two new airfields where I have never flown to in my flying career. There are 59 active airports/airfields in Switzerland, of which 7 are military and 3 big international airports. I have flown to 34 of them, including one of the military airbases (Alpnach) and
one of the big ones (Zurich). I picked Raron (LSTA) and Reichenbach (LSGR) from the list of those I haven’t been to, and added Sion (LSGS) as I have been there only once with a Piper Archer, but never with my SportCruiser.
I left Lommis early in the morning, as it was announced to be a hot day, typical for this summer.
Below Raron airfield, a former military airbase of which half of the original concrete runway is closed, but the other half still in use for private flying. One has to take care to land on the correct section…
The club which operates the airfield is small, there are only three or four planes based there. But they warmly welcome visitors.
From Raron I continued to Sion, only a short flight of 22 miles along the Rhone valley. Sion has been a mixed civil/military airport, but the military pulled out only some months ago.
On short final to Sion, which sees some scheduled flights during the winter months mostly for skiers from the UK, but so far no scheduled traffic during the remainder of the year.
From Sion to Reichenbach it is again only a short distance of 28 miles, but on this leg one has to climb to around 8’000 ft to cross the mountains. That’s 6’500 ft up, followed by 6’500 ft down… If the mountains are in clouds then a low level route between Sion and Reichenbach is possible, but that is probably close to 100 miles long.
Reichenbach is one of many, many military airfields which were build during the second world war and extended to host jets during the cold war. Many are now closed, but quite a few have been taken over by flying clubs or even communities. Their history explains why they typically have long, paved runways, where else Lommis has only a much shorter grass runway as it has been opened solely for private flying.
I had intended to have lunch in Reichenbach, as they do have a small Buvette, but it was closed. I therefore decided to depart before lunch as the airfield does not permit takeoffs from 12:00 to 13:00. Lommis has restrictions on takeoffs and landings from 12:00 to 13:30, which meant I had to stretch my return flight to last at least 1:30, so I did a longer detour over the Jungfrau and the Aletsch Glacier.
In the end I flew 4 hours and 20 minutes today, seeing some nice new places and just enjoying the scenery. Once more it has proven to simplify flying if your plane has a good range. I did not have to refuel anywhere during the day and still had fuel for more than two hours when I returned to Lommis.