I spent the last week in Goroka for my long-awaited advanced airstrip training course. Now, having completed it, I'm glad it wasn't scheduled any earlier - it was quite intense! The goal of the course was to develop the skills, confidence and precision to be able to land on short airstrips (precision), steep airstrips (technique) and others with challenging circuits or surface conditions (e.g. slippery).
The Goroka base services a number of such airstrips, and over the course of the 3 1/2 days we visited 14 different strips. They got progressively shorter, steeper, and slipperier... here are some stats:
(For reference, the steep sections of Transmission Gully or Ngauranga Gorge are about 8% slope)
Day 1:
Ground lesson
Pyarulama - 503 m, 10.0% slope, visual illusions with surrounding terrain
Yenkisa - 451 m, 9.1% slope, somewhat confined circuit
Day 2:
Marawaka - 900 m, 4.0% slope, confined circuit. This was a 'correlation exercise' meaning I didn't get to look at the airstrip chart but had to figure out the dimensions of the airstrip and how I was going to land there myself
Simogu - 487 m, 8.4% slope, can be slippery
Asinuwa - 551 m, 4.9% slope, visual illusions
Sindeni - 560 m, 6.3% slope, wind can be challenging
Ande - 482 m, 8.0% slope, wind can be challenging (just on the other side of the valley from Sindeni!)
Andakombe - 505 m, 9.0% slope
Manu - 705 m, 4.5% slope, wet and slippery when we visited
Day 3:
Wuyabo - 555 m, 2.8% slope, i.e. short and flat
Wonenara - 410 m, 9.7% slope, very unusual circuit - another correlation exercise
Owena - 380 m, 12.5% slope - the shortest and steepest so far!
Day 4:
Maimafu - 460 m, 13.0% slope, with slope varying from 5% to 16% in places, and very slippery to boot
Yambaitok - 515 m, 1.1% slope, unusual circuit and tricky wind (as well as being short and flat)
Gebrau - 530 m, 12.1% slope
Dusin - 441 m, 9.0% slope
I took some photos, and although they really don't do these places justice, here they are:
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| With training pilot Brad at Sindeni. Ande, our next destination, is visible in the background (just above my head) |
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| Owena (380 m, 12.5% slope) from the air |
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| Owena from the ground |
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| Maimafu (460 m, 13.0 slope) from the air |
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| Maimafu from the ground |
