Info. on Saanen/Gstaad, Switzerland

[London Flyer]

I'm planning a VFR trip to Saanen (LSGK) in August and wondered where I can get the current airfield chart - the Eurocontrol site only has AD charts for a handful of Swiss airports. I guess it's in the Jepp trip kit, but is it available free of charge elsewhere?

What's the situation re customs and immigration in Saanen? I'll be flying non-stop (if possible) from a GAA airfield in England.

Any pointers or tips from those that have flown into Saanen before would be gratefully received.

LF

[IO540]

Their website is here (http://www.flugplatz-saanen.ch/). Drop them a line.

The Navbox data shows Customs PPR, 100LL.

Jepp data shows VFR only.

[cldbstr]

Good evening,

I have landed several times at Saanen. Fun place, beautiful area.

For customs you need to fill in a form. You can do that via the website (Zollformalitäten). But there never were any guys from customs waiting for me. But don't forget to fill in the form or you will risk a fine.

The field is PPR, but when you telephone, you might be told that no one will be around when you are landing (or taking off). I have always found that a bit strange, to land at a deserted airfield. But the operator will keep an eye out, I think they have a radio at their home as well.

Don't forget, landing in Saanen is not easy. My first time was with a Swiss instructor which I recommend strongly. I simply asked a swiss instructor to join me for four days and tell me everything there was to know about flying in the Alps. I would say that if you haven't done any flying in the Alps before I would urge you not to go there but train with a Swiss before.

If you want to take things easy, then fly to Bern and rent a car.

I usually arrive via Bern and Thun. Then I start following the valley to Saanen. Sometimes when it is clouded around Bern I make a small detour heading for Lake Geneva and approach Saanen from that direction.

One thing you need to now about Saanen is the approach to RW08. There is a big hill right in front of the runway, so the approach must be quite steep. If you are taking off from RW26 you will have to deal with the same hill. When you have a strong headwind this will mean that you may encounter strong downdrafts on takeoff, not good when you are heading for the hill. So what you do when taking off from RW 26 is to make a shallow right turn just after takeoff while climbing.

In summertime there are a lot of gliders to watch out for!

If there are other items I can think of I will let you know. There is a nice video on youtube for a landing at RW26, search for: AIAR flight approaching Gstaad landing Saanen 19.09.10

Have fun.

Martin

[Grassfield]

Hi,

Having landed there myself, I agree with previous posters. Most of the time, it is rwy 26 in use and just beware that while coming in from the west you need to adhere to a rather specific procedure to align for final approach (almost like a IFR procedure turn), but this is fairly well laid out on the map and should be no problem.

Enjoy! The scenery is fantastic.

[Shorrick Mk2]

One thing nobody mentions is field elevation - you want to do your performance calculations properly before takeoff, especially if you come in August.

In general winds above 20kts are a no-no for mountain flying.

[cldbstr]

I once read in a mountain flying handbook that in the mountains, winds over 20 to 25 kts at FL100 are a no-go. And in practice, I have found that to be more than enough.

I really like the information that is given by the website MeteoSchweiz - Wetter (http://www.meteoschweiz.ch)
You can buy some specific info on the aviation page. Especially, the GAFOR routes for the various mountain passages are great and really necessary before taking off.

Martin

[London Flyer]

Thanks for the replies and advice. I'm under no great time pressure to get to Gstaad so I can hang around France or the flatter parts of Switzerland to wait for the cloud / wind in the hiller parts to improve.

I trained as a waiter in one of the grand hotels in Gstaad (the Bellevue) after my first year at university. On my days off, I would take my bike down to Saanen and watch the gliders, the F1 Avro and other props and jets come in and leave. It was terribly glamourous.

I loved the YouTube clips with the underwing camera. Any idea how that is achieved?

[IO540]

I once read in a mountain flying handbook that in the mountains, winds over 20 to 25 kts at FL100 are a no-go

Depends on how high you are above the terrain, on the wind direction relative to the lay of the ridges, etc.

If you cross the Alps in the middle, say via RESIA (basically via Samedan, N-S track), at FL180, then you are about 8000ft above most of the terrain.

If the wind there, blowing N-S, is 40kt, then you can expect (very roughly of the order of) +/- 500fpm up/downdraughts. If FL180 is at your operating ceiling, you are in for an exciting ride :)

I would not do such a crossing with winds above 20kt.