Bordeaux to Mount Blanc - La Salette unuseable in Summer 2023

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1

I see that a Bug Report has recently been filed regarding la Salette airfield on the Bordeaux to Mount Blanc Bush trip.

Since one of the more recent upgrades (in 2023?) a number of trees have appeared which makes the airfield unusable. Landing is just about possible (in a controlled stall in my case) but when on the ground it seems impossible to get airborne. The trees prevent a take-off.

This is a pity because I cannot complete the bush trip - and I suppose that others are in the same position.

But out of curiosity - has anyone succeeded in taking off from La Salette recently whist on a Bush Trip (August 2023)?

2

I haven’t tried the Bush Trip, but I did use the same aircraft and flew out of there in a “Hold My Beer” moment! Ok, I may have cheated a bit… I taxied the plane up the road as far as I could, then turned around to face the 19 runway (a ways away!) and maxed power then bumped and bounced my way down the hill, up the hill, and over the edge with the stall warning screaming while I flew parallel down the mountain picking up airspeed, then turned right and flew off into the distance… :shushing_face: :shushing_face: :shushing_face:
But I did try a takeoff on 01, and it’s not going to make it over the trees in less than a Pilatus Porter going like mad! (which did get out of there, I’m happy to report!).
Definitely an issue with the bush trip plane and those trees.
Regards

3

Thank you for your interest!

You inspired me to be more inventive and (with a great deal of effort) I found that I could coax the Diamond to turn 180 degrees and wiggle its way to the very top of the hill from where I turned 180 degrees again to see the whole length of runway 1. (In fairness to Microsoft, this is what the instructions say - but in a rather oblique manner).

Even with the longer runway available it took about ten attempts to clear the trees on the right hand side without clipping my undercarriage.

As a fall-back position I found, as did you, that you can ignore the runway and launch across the fields off the south side of the mountain and get airborne that way.