This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This briefing is aimed at cross country pilots who are already familiar with landing out. It is intended to highlight the additional considerations faced when landing out in the Southern Alps and surrounding areas.
The large valleys and basins have been formed by glacial action. The mountains have been ground down by ice resulting in flat bottomed valleys and basins that were dug out by glaciers and filled with rock as the glaciers retreated. Much of the surface has gentle folds and creases visible. These can be more prominent than they look from the air.
When thermal flying you generally need to be on the tops of the mountains, so you are quite high above the valley floor where any landing might happen. This means you can be twenty or thirty kilometers from a safe landing, but as you are four or five thousand feet above the valley floor it is acceptable. This means that as soon as you can't maintain your position on the tops you must immediately start heading to your landout.
Once you lose your position on top of the ridges, you lose the good lift. Also, the valley breeze is often very different to the upper winds you're working in on top. So falling off the tops can mean that you've lost contact with workable lift and need a new plan.
You often can't see your landout so you must know where it is. Sometimes you must glide a specific route to get to the landout. You must know what the route is. Knowledge of the terrain and what is around the corner or what is in the next valley is critical.
When wave flying things can change rapidly, so you need to know your escape plan and landout at all times. If you're in the wrong part of the wave and don't know how to get to the right place, you'll need to abandon the wave and get to landing early. From ten thousand feet to parked on the ground at Glentanner only takes ten minutes if you get it all wrong, all of it in turbulent rotor. Wave days also bring the difficulty of judging the wind on the ground. This can be extreme, or next to nothing. Landing with forty knots of wind can be challenging, but so is expecting forty knots and blasting over a short airstrip with only four knots.
The Omarama landout database map shows airstrips and landable areas. Click on the marker for more information about each point. Check carefully. Some points are only usable in the sense that the other option is landing in the riverbed. The map has layers for airfields, the database, and the waypoint file from the GNZ website. Select layers from the layer icon top left under the title block.
There are many airstrips, but they are often difficult to see and not very nice looking. As aerial topdressing has changed over time, many old topdressing strips are basically abandoned and haven't been used (or maintained) for years. The runway will have been leveled (or at least smoothed out) and cleared of large rocks. Unused strips do get overgrown.
Topdressing strips tend to be plenty long, generally six to eight hundred meters. They also tend to be narrow. A fifteen meter glider will generally be OK, but longer wings will require care and it is common to have the tips over rocks and scrub when landing. Don't drop a wing.
Some stations have airstrips that are still used by the farmer for access. These are the best option. If the farmer uses it regularly, it is likely to be well maintained. This has become less common over time.
In some large valleys there are airstrips that have been used for access by hunters and fishermen. They tend to be shorter. These are generally not suitable for landing out. They're there because road access isn't viable, and they're likely to be short and unsuitable for aerotow retrieve.
Unless you cross the divide and fly on the West Coast there are safe landing options most places we normally fly out of Omarama. There are some exceptions though.
Stew's Gully is on the south side of the St Bathans range. There is nowhere to land in Stew's Gully. There is some flat land near the hut in the upper part of Stew's Gully that you can park a glider on. It's a helicopter retrieve. Three gliders have landed/crashed there over the years.
Timaru Creek is between the Dingle and the Lindis. It drains to Lake Hawea. There is nowhere to land in Timaru Creek. There is a flat area at the mouth of the creek beside the lake. This is about a hundred meters long with trees at one end and a large bank at the other. Two gliders have landed there over the years. They prefered that to the lake. It's not a safe landing spot.
Any place that doesn't have a safe landing option should only be flown in with a good escape plan and maintaining a generous margin to execute the plan if things don't go well.
Most strips in the high country are one or two thousand feet above sea level. You really must judge your height above ground visually, not by reference to the altimeter.
When judging your height above ground, you must be looking at where you're planning to land. Often you're surrounded by higher ground, occasionally by lower ground. This can throw off your judgement if you're not used to it.
Many landouts in valleys don't have room for a traditional circuit. You might be limited by the landout being along one side of the valley, or facing into a mountain. Some have hills nearby such that when you fly your circuit you are doing your base leg behind terrain and can't see the landout until you're turning finals. Some are one way uphill into the bottom of a mountain, so no overshoot. You have to identify the constraints and fly as much of a circuit as you can.
The high country is mostly glacial leftovers. It is often rocky, with boulders gradually becoming rocks, becoming stones, becoming gravel as you go from the mountains to the ocean. The large valleys, the Mackenzie Basin, and Central Otago close to the mountains are mostly this sort of terrain.
Remember this if you're really stuck. The further down the valley you glide before you land in the shingle, the smaller the rocks.
Land used for grazing is often uneven and rocky. This is a real hazard for landing gliders. Many have been damaged hitting rocks.
Fields used for hay or crops are likely to have been leveled and had the big rocks removed to allow farm machinery to operate. Hay fields will have long grass in the spring and may be difficult to land in and definitely will be a problem for an aerotow. Several gliders have been trapped in the Dingle in spring or early summer because of this. No road retrieve access, and can't aerotow because of the long grass. Have to wait for the farmer to mow the grass.
Many fields have been irrigated with center pivot irrigators. These are commonly five hundred to over a thousand meters radius. The wheels that support the irrigator cut ruts as they move. These can be a substantial obstacle. It is safest to avoid rolling across the ruts. It is not uncommon for them to be deep enough to prevent vehicles crossing them.
If you need to land in a pivot irrigated field, land as far out from center as possible so the arc is largest. Land along the arc so you don't cross a rut. Irrigated fields are likely to be fenced so you're likely to only get two hundred meters between fences. So you're looking at a road retrieve.
There is often talk of water landings. There are plenty of lakes and they're mostly flat.
If you're going to land in a lake, the glider can 'submarine'. This is where it pitches nose down on contact with the water and dives. It will bob up, but the 'submarining' can be violent, smashing the canopy and hitting the pilot with considerable force.
Try to land in water deep enough that if the glider 'submarines' it won't hit bottom. Land parallel to the shore close enough to swim in. Undo your parachute straps and get the parachute shoulder straps free before the landing. Make sure your seat belts are done up tight. Lower the wheel. This helps reduce the chance of 'submarining'. If you can hold the wheel brake on you might get the wheel to 'ski' a bit, which will help slow the glider more gradually. Don't stall it in, fly it onto the surface at slow speed.
The glider should float after landing for quite some time. Lakes are cold though, so unless you've landed next to a boat you'll need to swim ashore and then warm up before exposure gets you. Your cellphone, radio, and Spot/InReach are not waterproof, so don't rely on them working. Probably best to set off your PLB before landing.
You will need to plan your retrieve in advance. Do you have a crew available? How are you going to contact them? Is a trailer available and roadworthy? Is a towplane and pilot available? Will they tow from the strips you might be using?
Communications can be a problem in the mountains. In many remote strips the aircraft radio will not get a signal out. There may be no cell phone coverage. This is why we recommend a satellite tracker/communication device. A Spot or InReach will work in these circumstances. Failing that, you might wait for an airliner to pass overhead and either talk to them on the ATC frequency for that area (you do have that on your chart with you in the glider?) or on 121.5 and get them to relay a message. Next option is to trigger your PLB. A missing aircraft in the Alps is serious. If you can't get communications and are looking at a night out of contact, trigger your PLB.
You will need to contact the land owner or farm manager to inform them of what has happened and get permission for access to retrieve the glider if possible. We don't want to annoy the landowners we're imposing on. It can be difficult to find out who to contact, but the attempt must be made.
Aerotow is often the most convenient way home, and sometimes the only way. You need to know what towing is available. Having a towplane and towpilot that can get you from where you've landed is not a given. Many strips are going to require a high power towplane and it may take a while to organise. You might be looking at a night out. Know what is available, what limitations are, and have your overnight survival gear just in case.
Road retrieves can be complicated by the terrain. A simple landout in Otago might mean a five or six hour drive each way. This means it is likely that a road retrieve in a remote area will not be complete before dark. Some will require four wheel drive. You might need to get the glider over a fence to get to the trailer, so make sure you have enough crew.
This mostly applies to wave days. The other generator of strong winds is gust fronts around thunderstorms. We don't get many of these, but the same rules apply.
Strong wind is common under the down of the wave. As the upper wind changes during the day the strong winds on the ground can move around. This means that the wild conditions can come and go. If you land in mild conditions, that doesn't mean you can wander off leaving the glider unsecured. The wind may come up. It also means that you might land in wild conditions, wait it out in the glider, and in a few hours be derigging in a gentle breeze.
If you land out on a windy wave day, you can get strong wind on the ground. Strong enough to make it difficult to stand and walk. Fifty knots and gusty.
If you are unlucky enough to land out in these conditions, it is generally safest to stay in the glider and 'ground fly' with the wings level, tail up, brakes open and wheelbrake on. Wait for rescue. Exiting the glider will risk canopy damage, putting a wing down risks getting blown over. In these conditions getting out and picketting the glider is unlikely to be a good move.
With a two seat glider you have better options. With care you can get the canopy open with two sets of hands. Each occupant can get out while the other holds onto the canopy. One person can hold the low wing down (by lying on it if necessary) while the other goes to get assistance.
When the winds gets really gusty you might not want to stay in the glider in case it gets blown over. In that case, get out while you can. The glider can be replaced.
Briefing prepared by Phil Plane.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License