Gallery - General Aviation Switzerland offers one of the most challenging, but also one of the most beautiful environments to fly VFR. Challenging in terms of weather and altitude: Especially in the Alps, the weather can change very rapidly, and where bright sun had been shining right before, severe turbulence, local thunderstorms, or rapidly building fog with icing conditions can trap you if you are not really prepared "meteo-wise". And it's not really funny to be trapped above a rising dense fog layer with Switzerland's not really flat topography below. Switzerland's altitude poses another threat, if you are not really aware of your aircraft's performance: In average, the Swiss "lowlands" are 1500ft high, and the VFR routes crossing the Alps require you to fly at altitudes close to 10'000ft. For example, Samedan airport (LSZS) is Europe's highest airport with 5600ft elevation, and if you plan to depart there on a 30°C day with a small Piper, most of your previously powerful "engine horses" will be grazing lazily on "density altitude pasture" instead of kicking your propeller through the thin air. And the add a low QNH again... there you go with a density altitude of around 9000 feet. Every year, there's some chaps trying to make full load takeoffs there, resulting (in the best case) in not even liftoff from ground, in worse cases lifting off but barely staying in the air, and stalling shortly before the quickly rising terrain around the airport. But... if you are aware of these dangers, it's simply one of the most stunning areas to fly in. Since I have done my PPL license during my ATPL course at Swissair Aviation School (SRAS), I have been doing private sightseeing flights over the Alps, and shown the miracle of these beautiful rock assemblies to friends and relatives. To give you an impression of how this might look like, I have placed some pictures of private flights and training flights during SRAS into the gallery. If you can imagine how much more stunning it looks when you are experiencing the Swiss Alps "life", then I can only recommend to write me an e-mail and take a ride once. I will be glad to show you everything you want to see!

Evening sightseeing flight over the Swiss Alps (06.07.2003)

There are several places where sunsets are told to be "best on earth". This might well be, but I want to add one more spot: Aboard a plane over the alps. See for yourself!       Evening sightseeing flight over the Swiss Alps

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