Friends,

I finally found the time to put up a post with picture of my flying around the Alps and Dolomites here in Italy.

Hope you enjoy the pics and should anyone of you be around here anytime if the year, please tell me!











I fly with my Savannah S taildragger, plus with the two Aviat Huskys from Bolzano Flying Club.

Jack

Jack,


Those are incredible photos. Looks like an amazing place to fly. I am curious if there are any books or resources similar to the Hanselman books - like Fly Idaho/Utah for the Alps. I would love to know where the different strips are geographically. I went on a snowboarding trip to France, Switzerland and Italy in 2008. I loved being able to travel between the the three countries via snowboard. Cervinia in particular was probably the coolest place I just happen to stumble into. Thanks for sharing - More please.



Josh

Nice! Thanks!

MTV

Thank you!!!!!

Thanks for liking my pics!

you are right Marty, it’ a pretty amazing area to fly.

The good thing is that so many mountain strips are situated inside 1 hour of flight and, even if they’re not for every Pilot, in my group of friends we have many very experienced guys and mountain instructors that can help anyone to approach those fields.

So, really, should you drop by in the area, don’t esitate to call!

We are also the group of Pilots that actually runs , pro-bono , Chamois Altiport, a Greta place to fly, hike and ski.

Some more pics as soon as I get back home this afternoon!

Cheers,

Jack

Alpe Meggiana: a private sloping strip in Piemonte, about 220 mt long, 5300ft high and 30 minutes away from my base field. Difficult one, especially in windy conditions, but great fun! The owner put a snowcat here so that we can press the snow for our winter ski-landings:







This is Monte Casale, Trentino, over the dolomites: longer but slopier field right over Lago di Garda.







Jack

I think it's neat that you have a tailwheel Savannah. Does the kit allow for that configuration? Or is this a modification?

Awesome!!

I work for an Austrian company now and always wonder if there’s any kind of general aviation scene over there. Italy isn’t too far from Austria, so it would be neat to see some more flying pics from that area.

Iannelli wrote:Alpe Meggiana: a private sloping strip in Piemonte, about 220 mt long, 5300ft high and 30 minutes away from my base field. Difficult one, especially in windy conditions, but great fun! The owner put a snowcat here so that we can press the snow for our winter ski-landings:

This strip sounds like the Italian version of Mile High in Idaho. Of course it sounds better using American measuring system. Although 2 Kilo High sounds pretty good!

Great photos. Looks like you've got quite the playground.



Josh

Great pics! Reminds me of some Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho sites.

Wonderful pictures Jack. Thank you for sharing some strip details too.

Zzz wrote:I think it's neat that you have a tailwheel Savannah. Does the kit allow for that configuration? Or is this a modification?

Ciao, sorry for the late response, but I’ve been very busy lately.

Yes the Savannah taildragger is a series configuration. I guess the kit should allow that, as it comes as standard series aircraft.

It’s ugly to look at, but efficient for what my friend and I want to do: mountain flying.

Much easier and pleasant to fly than the 3 wheels version. Less adverse yaw, due to a bigger tail and absence of the front gear that helps in developing yaw angles and decreased directional stability.

Cons: CG a bit too behind, winch makes pushing the stick fwd for takeoff a bit harder ( and longer takeoff roll) and visibility that is really poor on landing. Not for taildragger beginners.

Cost-effectiveness is anyway huge, and that’s why I’ve chosen it for approaching Mountain Flying.

We are building skiis as well for next winter !

Ciao!

Jack