Flying around Switzerland in my Grravel, landing on many things and steep slopes I shouldn’t have been landing on, I came across this large rockfall in Switzerland.
It conveniently had paved the way for a risky, and slippery runway at an angle aircraft such as the Grravel can appreciate. Lesser aircraft have failed, and no others have been able to successfully climb the slope. This challenging slope has become so popular during the summer that a helicopter even dropped a windsock to be installed at the flat base.
Let’s see if you can land it!
Challenge 1:
Land on the flat ‘STOL’ threshold before the slope begins. It’s the easiest way to park the aircraft if you want a break. Takeoffs can easily be done with minimal runup.
Challenge 2:
Land on The Slope itself, but be careful! Loose rocks are still present making it slippery and hazardous for your prop. Do you land slow with flap, or fast with no flap? Is your aircraft powerful enough to stop instead of rolling backwards? If not, what is your plan?
Once you’ve landed without bending your aircraft, how are you going to take off again? Turn around and risk damaging a wing? Lesser aircraft are forced to to this tricky manoeuvre. The Grravel, having the power to climb the hill can simply launch up the hill. Then you simply pull up and over, falling away from the slope inverted while gaining sufficient speed to roll around again.
At the top of the slope is a curve lto the next rockfall. Perhaps we could take the turn? Is this is how you will get airborne again?
One thing is for sure, if your aircraft doesn’t have enough power to stop on the slope, and brakes alone won’t help you on this loose surface, you’ll be needing to get yourself airborne again quickly, or slide in your wreck down to your doom.
Welcome to The Rockfall, Switzerland. LS60.
Brought to you by Parorng
