Dangers of flying in the Southern Alps NZ
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Join Date: Jun 2008
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Dangers of flying in the Southern Alps NZ
Would any pilots who've flown here agree that these dangers include:
Regards!
- Mountain waves
- Rotors
- Low level cloud and fogs
Regards!
Join Date: Oct 2007
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Thats quite a strange question and u can probably find the answer in your text books, but basically whatever the worst you can imagine that can happen in flying, you can get in a flash in the alps.
Severe turbulence, downdraughts of several thousand feet/min, and updraughts too can be just as problematic. Freezing rain, icing, extremely changeable weather, snow, hail, fog, freezing fog, rain, difficulty of navigation in confined valleys with cloud on the tops mixed with all the above little trying factors. Probably not the greatest time to be flying when its like that but if you work in the area long enough there is a high probablity you will get caught out by a fast moving front or something. You just have to make sure you know what to do if this does happen. Where are you going to go? Do you have somewhere to land? Always remember, there are a LOT of topdressing strips up in the farmed part of the high country, learn to identify them and look for signs that the are still in useable condition. I wouldnt be too afraid of using them in extreme circumstances, of course in addition to some mountain flying training it doesnt hurt to have a bit of rough strip training too.
Im getting slightly off topic here but basically you just need to be thinking a lot further ahead of the aircraft, reading the terrain, and the wind, and thinking about what that is going to do to your aircraft when you get to that spot.
That being said, on a nice, clear, calm winters day with a big high pressure system over the country I wouldnt want to be anywhere else!!
Severe turbulence, downdraughts of several thousand feet/min, and updraughts too can be just as problematic. Freezing rain, icing, extremely changeable weather, snow, hail, fog, freezing fog, rain, difficulty of navigation in confined valleys with cloud on the tops mixed with all the above little trying factors. Probably not the greatest time to be flying when its like that but if you work in the area long enough there is a high probablity you will get caught out by a fast moving front or something. You just have to make sure you know what to do if this does happen. Where are you going to go? Do you have somewhere to land? Always remember, there are a LOT of topdressing strips up in the farmed part of the high country, learn to identify them and look for signs that the are still in useable condition. I wouldnt be too afraid of using them in extreme circumstances, of course in addition to some mountain flying training it doesnt hurt to have a bit of rough strip training too.
Im getting slightly off topic here but basically you just need to be thinking a lot further ahead of the aircraft, reading the terrain, and the wind, and thinking about what that is going to do to your aircraft when you get to that spot.
That being said, on a nice, clear, calm winters day with a big high pressure system over the country I wouldnt want to be anywhere else!!
Join Date: Aug 2009
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A 69,
Has said it all really but remember to keep checking behind you for the valley closing in and always have an escape plan in mind. Don't go into a valley in crappy weather with no other escape possible or you may become a statistic.
But if you have the choice don't fly in marginal weather in the mountains.
Has said it all really but remember to keep checking behind you for the valley closing in and always have an escape plan in mind. Don't go into a valley in crappy weather with no other escape possible or you may become a statistic.
But if you have the choice don't fly in marginal weather in the mountains.
Loss of visual horizon (due terrain), overconfidence, poor comms, wires, turning room, poor vis in shadows, lack of appropriate survival equipment...
Still, a beautiful part of the world. Get some dual time out there
Still, a beautiful part of the world. Get some dual time out there
Shelving cloud in the valleys is always a good one.
There was a Nomad from Auckland that crashed in the Franz Valley, he was able to descend down the valley underneath it, but he couldn't exit out the bottom, so turned around to try and climb up it. He hit so hard the wings broke forwards, the seat rails in the cabin were ripped up with the seats still attached to the rails - ironically, the tailplane was perfect and intact. Moral of the story, don't descend down a valley that you can't see the end of.
I did about 5 years of flying around Mt Cook and the Glaciers and each day was different, each flight in a day would end up being different, the only thing to have is always a way out and if you're sitting on the edge of your seat its time to use your way out.
There was a Nomad from Auckland that crashed in the Franz Valley, he was able to descend down the valley underneath it, but he couldn't exit out the bottom, so turned around to try and climb up it. He hit so hard the wings broke forwards, the seat rails in the cabin were ripped up with the seats still attached to the rails - ironically, the tailplane was perfect and intact. Moral of the story, don't descend down a valley that you can't see the end of.
I did about 5 years of flying around Mt Cook and the Glaciers and each day was different, each flight in a day would end up being different, the only thing to have is always a way out and if you're sitting on the edge of your seat its time to use your way out.
