Hello everyone.
The Ticino river originates in the Swiss Alps, turns south and feeds the Swiss/Italian Lake “Lago Maggiore”, then flows south east to empty into the Italian river Po a few miles east of the university town of Pavia. Let’s follow its course from Ambri (LSMP) to RIvanazzano (LILH) in a low and slow sightseeing VFR flight.
FLIGHTPLAN
1 Takeoff from the small town of Ambri in Switzerland, runway altitude is 3000ft.
2 Climb to 4,000ft and head south east to enter the Ticino valley, which is initially quite narrow.
3 Follow the river valley, in a shallow descent
4, When the valley opens (waypoint 3) you can see in the distance the Swiss city of Locarno and you can make out the Lago Maggiore lake, which will bring you into Italian territory
5 Follow the lake south to its mouth (waypoint 7), enjoying the see of the resort towns of Cannobio and Verbania on the way.
6 Out of the lake, you are entering the Italian Ticino Natural Park.
7 While following the river you are very near the Milan International Aiport of Malpensa (LIMC)
8 The river flows south; look for the many sandy river beaches along its course, very popular in the summertime
9 After the A4 motorway bridge that crosses the river you can easily spot the city of Vigevano on the right ( waypoint 9 )
10 Next POI is the important and famous university town of Pavia, a few miles before waypoint 19
11 At waypoint 19 the Ticino river flows into the river Po, which heads east to empty into the Adriatic see, south of Venice.
12. Time to land at the nearby small airport of Rivanazzano (LILH)
Here is the flightplan:
Ambri Rivanazzano LSPM LILH GrandTour.PLN (3.0 KB)
