LANDING ZONES
Bright and its surrounding areas, including the Ovens Valley, Buckland Valley and Kiewa Valley, are a privilege to use for free-flight and are often a springboard for big distances, impressive triangles, and technical XC flying. Nonetheless, even the best pilot needs to land somewhere.
In pursuit of continued free-flight activities in north-eastern Victoria, NEVHGC has worked hard over many years to develop positive and sustainable relationships with our local landowners. We maintain landing zone designations to represent the wishes of landowners (that is, whether landowners are happy to have pilots land on their property).
Before you fly here, you must familiarise yourself with the various Landing Zones in the surrounding area.
These can be accessed via the Australian Site Guide.
ZONING CATEGORIES
The site guide shows the following zoning colours :
Blue Zones - Pilot-Friendly Landing Zone: The landowner is content for there to be an unlimited number of landings and has been assessed as generally suitable for landing. There are more than 50 blue zones dotted throughout the Ovens, Wandiligong, Kiewa and Buckland valleys.
The Porepunkah and Mount Beauty airstrips are blue zones; however, pilots must carry and use VHF radio when landing here.
Orange Zones – Avoid if Possible: The landowner does not wish for the property to become a landing target but will tolerate an occasional “emergency” landing.
Red Zones – Pilots are NOT Welcome: The landowner does not want any pilots landing here at any time. There are approximately 30 red zones dotted throughout the Ovens, Wandiligong, Kiewa and Buckland valleys.
Unmarked area: Any area that doesn’t meet the blue, orange or red zone criteria. The majority of land in north-eastern Victoria falls into this category. These areas range from forested hillsides to open flat paddocks. In most cases, the landowner’s wishes about pilot landings are not known.
The NEVHGC encourages pilots to land in a blue zone whenever it is safe to do so.
Blue zone sites have been assessed by the club as generally safe to land in, with sufficient open space. Nearby hazards such as power lines are marked such that they will be displayed on a flight instrument with landing zone layers. However, conditions can change: vegetation may have grown, stock may be moved into a paddock, or the wind may be coming from a direction that means rotor or other hazardous conditions exist. Always assess the specific conditions when choosing a safe place to land.
If circumstances oblige you to land in an unmarked area, please act in the knowledge that you are an uninvited and possibly unwanted guest on someone’s property.
ACCESSING LANDING ZONES INFORMATION
Before you fly, please familiarise yourself with the various landing zone designations and ensure that you have the LZ file displayed on your instrument to make informed piloting decisions.
More detailed information on all landing zones is available on the Australian National Site Guide. It is recommended that you study the map of the local area with landing zone information BEFORE you fly.
Smartphone Apps
Landing zones can change designations as properties change hands, consultation occurs or landowners’ views on landings change. Relying on hard copies of landing zone information is not encouraged. Instead, use an app that can be updated and displays the current landing zones as you fly. The following apps will display this information:
If you need help loading or configuring these apps, please ask another pilot for assistance or follow our “cheat sheet” Configure LZs in XC Soar, XC Track and FSH V3.
PENALTIES FOR LANDING IN NO LANDING ZONES
In an attempt to encourage pilot behaviour that complies with local landowner wishes and provides sustainability to the sport in the area, the following sanctions will be applied.
Pilots who land in a Red Zone shall be invited to show cause why these sanctions should not be applied.
First Offence : 48-hour suspension
- Suspension of all flying privileges at all sites administered by NEVHGC
- Counselling and check to ensure that the pilot has access to the correct “No-Landing” information.
- This sanction may be applied by the Senior Safety Officer or any NEVHGC committee member.
Second Offence : 2-week suspension
- Suspension of pilot’s flying privileges for 2 weeks at all sites administered by NEVHGC.
- This sanction shall be applied by the NEVHGC committee collectively.
Third Offence : 1-year suspension
- Suspension of all flying privileges at all sites administered by NEVHGC for a period of 1 year.
- This sanction shall be applied by the NEVHGC committee collectively.
- The pilot is then to make an application to the NEVHGC committee so that the NEVHGC committee can resolve whether or not to reinstate flying privileges.
For the complete Land Owner Policy, please access this document [CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED].
LAND OWNER ENCOUNTERS
If you meet landowners or community members when outlanding, please be polite and courteous, and follow any reasonable request of the landowner. Your words and actions during these interactions will have a lasting impact on landowner perceptions of free-flight pilots.
A recent survey of our members showed that the majority of landowner interactions when outlanding are positive.
However, if you encounter an unfriendly landowner, please consider the following guidelines:
- If confronted by the landowner, remain calm, apologise immediately for the intrusion, thank them for the safe landing, ask for the best exit route, pack up immediately (or bundle up if it’s not a long walk) and leave.
- If the landowner asks for contact details, provide them with your name and phone number. The landowner may contact NEVHGC and we will ask for their help to identify the pilot.
- You should notify the club as soon as possible by contacting the club Senior Safety Officer or other committee member and let them know what happened. Providing landowner contact details definitely helps.
The law provides that:
- The landowner is not allowed to physically or verbally assault you, threaten you in any way or interfere with your flying equipment (including attempting to confiscate it).
- The landowner must give you the opportunity to leave their property in good time via the normal entry/exit route (forcing you to climb a barb wire fence is not acceptable).
- If you comply with a reasonable request to leave it is unlikely that you will be prosecuted.
- If you feel your rights have been compromised, the police should be contacted (as well as the NEVHGC).
On a happier note, if you meet a landowner who would welcome other pilots landing on their property, please also contact a committee member. Landing zones often change to “blue” zones through positive pilot interactions and an improved understanding of the low impact nature of our sport.
The NEVHGC takes landowner relationships seriously and a lot of committee time and effort goes into maintaining them for the sustainability of the sport. Please do your part by planning your flights accordingly and reporting any issues back to the committee. Knowing about incidents ahead of landowner phone calls makes for a much more productive outcome.
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