Surselva airspace

If you are attempting the classic 120km trip from Fiesch to Chur, there are some airspace issues in the Surselva of which you should be aware, although it is highly unlikely that you will be affected by them.

The most significant restrictions apply around the Heliport near Tavanasa, which is located around half way between the Oberalppass and Chur.   These are set out on a page in the airspace section of the SHV website, which you should take as the definitive position, rather than my interpretation below.   What I have written is based on my understanding of the information there in September 2020, which includes a warning that the current regulations can be revoked at any time, so I take no responsibility for its accuracy!

Restrictions around Tavanasa Heliport

The Tavanasa Heliport is used for transport and sightseeing flights, and by Rega. Increased caution should be exercised within 2.5km of the base (shown by the blue circle).  The use of Flarm is recommended by the Heliport manager to reduce the risk of a close approach to another aircraft(!).  The zone marked in red defines an area in which paragliders and hang-gliders are not allowed to fly below 1350m ASL.

Under normal circumstances, your route will be well to the north of Brigels and Andiast, and therefore unaffected by this airspace.  However, if you are flushed down into the valley by the breakthrough of a north wind here, then you may suddenly find yourself at risk of breaching the regulations.  There is a field, easily identified from the air as it is next to the train station at Tavanasa on the westerly border of the exclusion zone, where it is possible to land, shown in yellow below.  This entirely unofficial option demands some care, as it is bordered by large power lines to the north, a road to the east, the railway line (also with overhead lines) to the south, and the river Rhine to the west.

Position of Tavanasa landing option

However, the size of this area – around 100x200m – provides more than enough space for a safe landing, and the power lines run parallel to the valley breeze, which (at ground level) will nearly always be blowing from the east (especially on north wind days). Although the normal final approach from the west will not breach the airspace, it would be risky to set up downwind of the field, as it is likely that the valley breeze will strengthen significantly at some point as you descend, so you should be prepared for the possibility that your ground speed will be reduced to single figures well before you touch down.

Approaching Tavanasa landing option from the west

There are also two danger areas in the Surselva, shown on the header image above.

LS-D10 is a cylinder 20km in diameter, centred near the Heliport, and only occasionally activated.  The Daily Airspace Bulletin for Switzerland for 22nd June 2016 showed that it was active from ground level to 2250m ASL, between 8:30-11:30 and 13:30-16:30 local time (06:30-09:30 and 11:30-14:30 UTC).  In practice, this did not present a substantial problem, as one would expect to be higher than 2250m when flying through this area.  However, a landing between Trun and Ilanz before 16:30 would have been within this airspace whilst it was active.

LS-D15 is much smaller, around 1km x 2km in size, located on the western edge of Chur, and seems to be activated more frequently.  I believe it is used as a military firing range.   It extends from ground level up to 6000ft/1850m ASL (around 1300m AGL) so would be important if you were landing in this area.  However, as I explain in the Surselva page, there is usually such a strong valley breeze in Chur that you should not plan to land here in the first place.

D15 Danger Area

The Daily Airspace Bulletin for Switzerland for 10th July 2017 showed that it was active on that day between 08:00–12:00 and 13:00–17:00 (06:00–10:00 and 11:00–15:00 UTC), so could easily have been reached from Fiesch early enough to be relevant.

So it’s a good idea to check the DABS every day!