NO 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 and impressive triangles.
The club has worked hard to develop sustainable relationships with our local landowners, such that in recent times many No Landing Zones have been upgraded to be unrestricted and some have even become Pilot-Friendly landing areas.
In recent times, some valleys have had so many no landing zones that it became undesirable to attempt to fly them. When those valleys are close to Mystic (as was the case for the Harrietville Valley), this makes learning to fly XC even more challenging. It is in everyone’s best interests to comply with landowner wishes where they do not want people landing on their property.
Before you fly here, you must familiarise yourself with the various No 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
Preferred landing zones where the landowner is content for there to be an unlimited number of landings
Orange Zones – Avoid if Possible
The landowner preference is for pilots not to land there, but the occasional landing will be tolerated.
Red Zones – Pilots are NOT Welcome
The landowner does not want any pilots landing here at any time.
ACCESSING NO LANDING ZONES INFORMATION
Because the No Landing Zone areas may need to be amended at any point, relying on hard copies of No Landing Zone information is not encouraged.
Website
For online access, the Australian Site Guide offers the latest zoning information, as well as additional information about various sites and landing zones. It is recommended that you study the map of the local area with landing zone information BEFORE you fly.
Smartphone Apps
If you intend to fly cross-country, the only way to ensure you do not end up landing in a No Landing Zone is to use an app that displays this current No Landing information 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. Many pilots use at least one of these apps - they are essential for flying in this area (and increasingly so in other areas too).
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
Second Offence : 2-week suspension
Third Offence : 1-year suspension
For the complete Land Owner Policy, please access this document here.
UNFRIENDLY LAND OWNER ENCOUNTERS
Whether you end up landing in a No Landing Zone, or simply encounter an unfriendly landowner in another zone, please consider the following guidelines:
The law provides that:
The NEVHGC takes landowner relationships very 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.