LSGS - SIR Sion CH (UTC+1)
LSTA - ZBL Raron CH (UTC+1)
After a very short night I found myself on the train to Sion at 08h40. Pilot Jean picked me up at the parking behind the station and we completed the drive to the little airport of Sion in 5 minutes. In the tiny landside area I was amazed to see that check-in was open for flights to Calvi and St Tropez with a new airline called Mountain Air that operates flights at the weekend. It appears to have inherited some of the planes that Air Glaciers recently got rid of. In the pilots room we studied the weather in detail, printing out the charts, and created a flight plan to the tiny airport of Raron. Pilot Jean then completed the paperwork in the briefing room upstairs including filling out an insurance form for me and we submitted these to the office down below before heading out onto the apron.
In the pilots room at Sion airport
The Piper plane was in the old wooden hangar
Towing the plane out onto the apron
One of the Robin aircraft had broken down and was in for repairs and the remaining one was needed by an instructor during the afternoon. Our aircraft was exactly the same one we had used for the Alpine tour back in January and it had been carefully placed along with two other light aircraft in the old wooden hangar which is scheduled for demolition. Jean towed the plane, an action which was feasible thanks to a pulling tool, out on to the parking place on the apron. There, we both inspected the body of the aircraft in detail and Jean verified fuel and oil levels. We finally climbed into the cockpit of the small plane and began the preflight checks, eventually starting the motor and propellor. All instruments were checked during the 10 minutes needed for the motor to warm up and we hooked up to air traffic control and quickly got permission to taxi to the runway and takeoff.
Going through the preflight take-off checklist
Instrument panel of the Piper aircraft
Taking off towards Conthey in the southwest
We were instructed to take off to the southwest in the direction of Martigny and await further instructions during the climb. This time I felt comfortable with ATC and could understand what they were saying in English. The next command duly came and we were able to bank sharp left over Nendaz while gaining height. Before long we were headed towards the northeast in the direction of Raron, a very small airfield further up the Rhône valley where the valley is much narrower. We rose to a height of 5,500 feet but it often didn't feel high enough for me as the terrain sometimes appeared frighteningly close down below. We flew over Vex and Nax, then over Sierre. As we flew over the Forêt de Finges I made out a runway in the distance, but as we got closer there were large X crosses on the runway, meaning that you cannot land there. It turned out to be Turtmann, a closed airfield.
A clear view down the Rhône valley towards Martigny
Looking up the Val d'Hérens, the village of Vex in the foreground; having turned 180° we are now heading up the Rhône valley towards the northeast
The upper part of the Rhône valley is much more narrow
The airfield of Turtmann is visible here, which is closed to traffic
I like this picture of Gampel-Steg, the bottom of the Lötschental where the Lonza river reaches the Rhône valley
A view of the industrial town of Visp, with the factory buildings of Lonza clearly visible
Finally Raron airstrip came into sight and it was quickly visible that the runway had been cut into two parts, one part with large X marks on it denoting that you may not land there, and the other part a short 700 meter live runway. There was a glider planning to land at the same time as us, so we were instructed to land on runway 28 and wait at the end of the runway which unceremoniously ended with a ridge of grass and some abandoned oil drums, a modern industrial building just behind it. The glider landed just behind us, immediately turned and taxied back down the runway to the parking area. We followed suit and duly parked on the edge of a field beside a tiny hangar (for model planes) which had a wooden hut next to it. There is no terminal building, no airport staff, just this hut which had a cafe inside it.
The airfield of Raron, which has indeed been cut in two; we will land towards the southwest, on the left part of the runway here
Approaching the runway after turning 180°, the still incomplete A9 highway on the right
The active second half of the runway in the distance is indeed very short
We parked the plane on the grass beside the wooden hut which contained the main office of the airport and a café
Rating 9*
Aircraft DR40
Registration HB-KFQ