Departure
92%
vs 95% ▼ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Courtelary Airfield is a small grass glider strip tucked into the St-Imier valley in Switzerland's Canton of Bern, midway between Biel/Bienne and La Chaux-de-Fonds. It is a pure soaring field, jointly run by local gliding clubs, and offers a single grass runway with no instrument approach, making it very much a VFR, fair-weather destination for sim pilots interested in Alpine foothill flying.
Courtelary is a dedicated glider airfield lying in the narrow St-Imier valley of the Bernese Jura, roughly midway between the towns of Biel/Bienne and La Chaux-de-Fonds. It is operated jointly by the Biel gliding group and the Groupe de vol à voile de Courtelary, with the local model-aircraft club, Aéromodélisme Courtelary, also using the site. The field's position on what is sometimes described as the cross-country 'race track' between the Black Forest and the Rhone valley makes it a natural staging point for soaring flights through the Jura, and its compact grass strip and valley setting give it a distinctly Alpine-foothill character for anyone flying it in a simulator.
The airfield sits in the commune of Courtelary in the Canton of Bern, within the confined St-Imier valley that runs between Biel/Bienne to the northeast and La Chaux-de-Fonds to the southwest. The surrounding terrain is hilly, typical of the Bernese Jura, and pilots should expect the valley's orientation to shape any approach or departure.
Courtelary has a single grass runway aligned 06/24, lit, with each direction measuring approximately 2,120 to 2,121 feet in length. There is no ILS or other instrument approach; the field is a visual, daylight glider strip.
No communications frequencies are published for Courtelary Airfield, and there is no instrument navigation aid or approach associated with the field. Pilots should expect to operate on a see-and-avoid basis typical of a glider site, coordinating visually with local traffic.
The airfield lies within the narrow St-Imier valley, with the built-up area of Courtelary itself serving as an obvious ground reference, and the towns of Biel/Bienne and La Chaux-de-Fonds providing wider orientation points along the valley's axis.
Courtelary remains a pure glider airfield, operated jointly by the Biel gliding group and the Groupe de vol à voile de Courtelary, with the grass strip also shared by the Aéromodélisme Courtelary model-flying club. The valley location and its position on a favoured Jura soaring route make it a working cross-country gliding base rather than a powered general aviation field. For flight simulation, third-party scenery for Courtelary (LSZJ) has been produced for Microsoft Flight Simulator, including a detailed rendition with custom static gliders and vegetation. (Note: sim pilots operating here should treat it as a glider site with no published radio service and plan accordingly; prior permission would typically be expected before any visiting flight.)