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
- 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 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:
- 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 his property in good time via the normal entry/exit route (forcing you to climb a barb wire fence is not acceptable).
- If you are complying 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).
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.
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