Locher Sarntal airfield in the making

[Dimus]

It's tricky once you end your landing run, you have to keep your revs up and turn immediately or you might indeed get stuck.

I decided to get the Carenado PC-12 just to try it for size. It barely fits in the hangar:







Take off is also marginal but landing is relatively easy. I noticed in the videos that Gebhard's PC12 has a five bladed prop, maybe optimized for short grass field operations.

[Bjoern]

His PC-12 is most probably a NG.

[mgr]

Hi,

His PC-12 is most probably a NG.

Based on the movies from himselve it's a classic one, with a retrofitted prop and maybe even also a upgraded engine.
This prop: http://hartzellprop.com/hartzell-int...r-pc-12-fleet/

Regards,

Marcel

[jmbiii]

Really super scenery !

Took off from Bolzano to the south. Turning back north I picked the wrong valley.
Once I found the correct valley, it was a piece of cake landing.

[TeiscoDelRay]

Cool but isn't a helicopter cheating Try it in a Lear some time.

Another great thing about this scenery is that is near some other very cool airports including LOWI.

[falcon409]

Just one observation concerning the approach. . .I've taken several trips from Bolzano up the Valley and the landmarks are all there and easy to spot. The wires are actually easier to spot than they appear to be in the videos I've watched (thank goodness, lol) however in the videos it seems that the progression from Church Hill down the valley is a steady descent as each set of wires is passed. However I found that the descent took a sharp drop from the second set to get low enough to make a smooth transition for landing. The runway seems to come up much quicker than the videos show it. It was actually better to overfly the first set, descend "under" the second set which put me on a much smoother approach to the runway and still allowed me to overfly the last set of wires.

[Dimus]

Somehow it feels that way for me too Ed. It seems that the real obstacle is cables 2. In the approach instruction video you can see cables 2 standing high over the valley at around 1:40 when the cable 3 callout is made. Cables 3 are actually quite low and not really an obstacle when you're descending from the church. It would be good if we could see inside the cockpit during that approach and check if the rate of descend increases after cables 2. I usually start my descend from the church aiming to barely pass cables2, which is what seems to be the case also in the video. So far I have flaps one notch before full. After cables2 I drop my last notch of flaps and stay on the right. After cables 3 i make a small S turn which helps kill some more altitude for touchdown.

The height of cables 2 is not hard to get right as their 2 ends lie on very specific points on the photoscenery. I have arranged for the cable object to be placed using AGL height of the pylon on the right side. This way it depends on each user's mesh but does not change much. I would say that the height of cables2 is pretty much accurate. I could not accurately measure the height of cables 3 so used my best judgement just looking at the videos. At first they were placed a bit higher but I had to lower them as it was close to impossible to cross them and land safely.

Off to LOWI from Locher in the PC12.

[jmbiii]

Cool but isn't a helicopter cheating Try it in a Lear some time.

Having been a 'rotorhead' since 1962 I would say it's just second nature. Not cheating. Lears don't really excite me.
However I am enamored with aircraft made in Switzerland. I have a PC-6, PC-7, PC-12, PC-21 and PC-24.
The 24 supposedly been designed as a rough field small jet. Perhaps I shall see if they have fudged a little in the advertising.

[expat]

Keen to hear how the IRIS PC-24 performs at Locher. Am a big Pilatus fan too and that jet is on my list.

[lownslo]

Hi Dimus,

Finally had a chance to fly your brilliant creation this morning... been a mixture of giggling and a bit of (virtual) terror! Just wanted to offer my thanks and appreciation for all your effort and time. Locher is truly a work of art!

Congrats and thanks,

Greg

[jmbiii]

Keen to hear how the IRIS PC-24 performs at Locher. Am a big Pilatus fan too and that jet is on my list.

Okay, I managed to land the PC-24 twice. The first time wasn't pretty. Just barely missed the third set of wires. Full flaps, spoilers and gear, stall speed is 81k. It took a bit to keep it in the air at 105k. Was like a carrier landing. Second time was smoother but nothing to write home about.
Take offs were hairy. Full power, 2/3 flaps and at 120k (just at the end of the flat by the hangar) pulled the stick back and flipped the gear up.
Both times just barely cleared the trees and third wires (both times went back to the pilot lounge in Bolzano and changed shorts ).
No pictures - too busy flying! The IRIS PC-24 is pretty nice and works in P3D v3.4, too.

That is really some neat scenery. Will try with a few more of my planes - PC-6, Wilga, Super Cub and some old timers.

I don't think anyone would really try it in a new expensive PC-24.

[fuzz1]

I can see that the 'What You Shouldn't Fly At Locher But Do" thread is not far behind

[Dimus]

A gang of ultralights flew to Locher from south Germany (Kempten) a month ago:



and then went on to Jonathan airfield in Treviso:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5I9yU_zHm4

and then to Zell am Zee in Austria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ19sqz1Bcc

A nice close destination is also Asiago LIDA, which is an ORBX freeware. I'm currently trying to get a taste of Gebhard's life by flying the PC-12 out of Locher and back. The trip to Innsbruck was a quickie and had a blast! Dubrovnik and Corfu are on the list now, longer trips of course.

[Dimus]

I thought this is a big no-no at Locher but Gebhard proves otherwise in his Pocket Rocket here:



Still haven't found a plane in my hangar powerful enough to do this. In the scenery however, that part of the runway is accessible and you can try your luck.

[RKinkor]

Love the scenery! Hopefully somebody will make a Pocket Rocket someday.

[MZee1960]

Just flew in from LOWI, today. Great work, Dimus ! Love this little airstrip.

[MZee1960]

All parked up now, and ready to explore this breathtaking area !