Challenging Airports - Bolzano, Italy (LIPB)

Bolzano, Italy (LIPB)

The positional and terrain awareness that a moving map provides is an invaluable tool in the cockpit.

Some areas of the world are just ‘genetically gifted’ when it comes to topography and natural beauty. As we’ve hopscotched around the globe during our Challenging Airports series, we often find ourselves coming back to the same regions simply because they have so much to offer. Such is the case in this issue, where we revisit the spectacular mountain landscapes of northern Italy and the scenic vistas provided by the Dolomites surrounding the valley city of Bolzano.

Location

Bolzano is in the north of Italy, approximately 50 miles south of Innsbruck, Austria. Snow-capped peaks to near 11,000ft surround the valley on all sides.

Our interest lies in the small regional airport located on the southern end of the town, nestled in the deep valley with a field elevation of just 789ft.

Three rivers converge on Bolzano, merging and continuing south along the valley, forming the second largest river in Italy, the Adige. The climate in the valley is highly variable, with hot summers and cold winters.

Temperatures and conditions vary greatly in the immediate area, with the surrounding alpine peaks seeing conditions vastly different to those on the valley floor.

A Pilatus PC-12 climbs out on the departure procedure through the valley to the south of the airfield.

Airfield

The airfield is orientated along a north/south axis, parallel with the run of the valley to the south. Runway 01/19 is 4,242ft in length and 105ft wide. A 2,335ft parallel grass landing area is also used for gliders and ultralights. It is important to note that the usable runway is slightly longer for take-offs due to the ability to use runway extension areas that are not suitable for landing. The take-off areas are also further broken down into jet-capable surfaces and prop-capable surfaces. The maximum listed distance would be for a prop aircraft departing Runway 19 with an allowable take-off run available of 5,144ft. Aircraft landing on Runway 01 have 4,242ft of landing distance available, while those circling to Runway 19 have a displaced threshold offering 4,035ft – not very long distances when one factors in runway contamination.

The runways both have 4.48° PAPI lights and Runway 01 has lead-in lights and high-intensity lighting. The airport notes should be required reading since they include information such as the Runway 19 PAPI lights should only be used during the daytime and they only provide obstacle clearance to 4.9km.

High terrain exists in all quadrants and there is very little room for mistakes in both instrument and visual conditions.

Approaches

Bolzano is served by two non-precision instrument approach procedures. Both approaches take advantage of the long valley running south of the airfield to allow for descents to conservative minimums. The maximum speed as defined by the upper limit of the Category C approach minimums is a visual manoeuvring speed no greater than 140 knots, so corporate jet pilots should be aware of that limitation.

How to fly to Bolzano

Flights to Bolzano Airport can be replicated using any X-Plane or FSX/P3D aircraft or helicopter that is suitably equipped to Fly combined IFR/VFR approaches to a (frequently contaminated) runway length of 4,242ft. The largest aircraft that typically operated to Bolzano were ATR-72s, Q400s, Dornier 328s, as well as some large corporate aircraft. While stock X-Plane and FSX/P3D airports can be used, I’d recommend enhancing the experience with custom scenery packages. There are a wide array of mesh and ortho sceneries available for Italy.

Government approach charts can be found on Rocket Route: www.rocketroute.com/airports/europe-eu/italy-it/plates-bolzano-lipb.html

The published visual approach procedure to Runway 01, following the completion of the VOR or localiser approach, consists of a descending figure-of-eight pattern over the VOR.

The VOR-A approach is based off the Bolzano VOR/DME (117.05) and consists of no fewer than six distance-based stepdown fixes leading to a minimum descent altitude (MDA) of 4,920ft MSL. This procedure leaves you at 4,131ft above the airfield (AGL), over the VOR three and a half miles from the approach end of Runway 01.

Normally, you would be at around 1,000ft at that distance, so obviously a straight-in landing from the missed approach point is not feasible. From this point, pilots should consult the visual approach chart entitled ‘Visual Manoeuvring On Prescribed Track’ to fly a descending figure-of-eight pattern over the VOR to position for landing.

While this may sound straightforward enough, a non-standard pattern to a visual landing can be the most dangerous aspect of an instrument approach as you are not flying a standard, rectangular pattern with familiar reference points and ingrained sight pictures. The visual manoeuvring procedure is only authorised for Category A and B aircraft (a maximum of 120 knots).

The second approach is a localiser ‘cloud break’ procedure using a slightly offset localiser with minimums to 2,930ft (2,158ft AGL). As usual with these type of airports surrounded by mountains, the minimums vary based on your escape climb performance, with aircraft capable of 6% climb gradients having much lower minimums than those that can only maintain 2.5% (4,160ft MDA). The missed approach point on the localiser is at 4.5 DME.

A notation on the plate indicates that the portion of the approach between 9.5 and 4.5 DME is a 6.5° steep approach, so additional drag devices such as landing flaps and speedbrakes may be required.

Also, be aware that only category A and B aircraft are permitted to perform the circling manoeuvre to Runway 01 or 19 – category C aircraft must either land straight-in to Runway 01 or conduct a missed approach.

Missed approaches

Both instrument procedure missed approaches consist of joining a radial north of Bolzano VOR to a distance of 7 DME and executing a climbing left turn within the confines of the valley to reverse course to the south, leaving the valley on the same track you entered.

Pay close attention to the required maximum airspeeds and bank angles – it is very easy to accelerate to high speeds when executing maximum power missed approaches. The missed approach for the localiser states that the initial left turn should be executed at no greater than 150 knots with a bank angle of no less than 25°. The missed approach procedure is a busy time and you should be prepared to flip your navigation radios to the appropriate navaid and be ready to dial in the courses required. Ideally, a GPS with the approach loaded in the database should allow you to fly the entire missed approach using the GPS for lateral navigation while cross-checking with the listed navaids.

All of the government-issued approach charts are extremely busy affairs with a lot of fine print, notations, multiple crossing restrictions and tracks that sometimes overlay one another. They are some of the busiest-looking charts I’ve ever studied, and you would want to have them thoroughly briefed and understood well before arriving in the Bolzano terminal area. In fact, if I were flying to Bolzano in real life, I would want to practice the approach on my PC flight simulator just to familiarise myself with the procedure and prepare for what I would be seeing both inside and outside of the cockpit.

Business jets are frequent visitors to Bolzano, though their higher circling airspeeds necessitate careful planning and execution when conducting instrument approaches.

Landing

As we mentioned already, the runway offers a bit over 4,000ft of landing distance, which is adequate for most dry runway operations for mid-sized corporate aircraft and some regional jets and turboprops. Historically, aircraft as large as the ATR-72 and the Dornier 328 (both prop and jet) have provided services to Bolzano. Currently, Austrian Airlines flies seasonal charters to Bolzano in its Bombardier Q400. Other frequent visitors to the field are corporate jets such as the Challenger 300 and 600 series, Falcon 900 and 7X, and all manner of turboprops that include King Airs, Piaggio Avantis, Pilatus PC-12s and many other light piston and turbine aircraft. Helicopter operations are seen year-round with sightseeing, heliskiing tours and search and rescue type flights being conducted in all seasons.

The Dornier 328 is an excellent choice to fly to Bolzano, with its ability to descend steeply at low speed while demonstrating short landing distances.

With such a short runway, pilots should strive to be very near their appropriate Vref speed and shoot for positive landings rather than hunting for a soft touchdown. The goal with any short runway is to transfer the weight carried by the wings to the landing gear in an expeditious manner to improve braking.

 Spoilers, speedbrakes, reverse thrust and antiskid should all be employed, particularly when runway contamination in the form of rain, snow or ice is present. With the odd instrument approaches that lead to the visual segments, it is easy to end up high or wide on short final, which can result in deviations from the normal landing sight picture. It is much better to perform a balked landing and try the approach again than suffer the embarrassment and danger of sliding off the end of a runway. Keep in mind that visual manoeuvring east of the airfield is prohibited due to high terrain. The visual manoeuvring charts also specify that minimum visibility must be 5km or greater and the ceiling must be better than 5,000ft MSL (4,200ft AGL).

 Departures

Aircraft departing Bolzano must do so in visual conditions until reaching the Bolzano VOR at or above 3,600ft. Upon crossing the VOR, join the 195° radial and adhere to the minimum climb crossing restrictions until reaching FORER intersection at 19 DME and 12,000ft. Be aware that the minimum climb gradient for the departure is 7.4% (450ft per nm) so factor that in to your planning for events such as the loss of an engine in multi-engine aircraft. Minimum weather conditions for departure are 5km visibility and a ceiling of 3,500ft MSL (2,500ft AGL).

The top screen shows an unaided night view of the valley, with the bottom using night vision. Vision enhancement technology and/or synthetic vision are useful tools when operating to mountainous areas at night. Austrian Airlines operates seasonal charters to Bolzano using Bombardier Q400 turboprops.