Livno is situated on a 700 meter high grassland plateau called Livanjsko Polje just next to a 60km long, 1,800m high ridgeline. The land type where Livno is situated is a mixture of Dalmatic lands towards the south, Herzegovina lands spanning from southwest to southeast, and Bosnia land type from the Northwest to East of Livno. All of these lands have different vegetation and microclimates. The climates meet together in one line during the summer.
Because of Livno's position there is a constant mixture of continental and Mediterranean-Adriatic climate spanning right on the Dinaric Alps in a northwest to southeast direction. Livno is situated right below that soaring highway.
Most notable winds are the ‘Bura’ north-northeast winds, which are perfect for ridge and wave flying, and southern ‘Jugo’ winds originating from the Sahara that, depending on the day, provide waves, strong 5+m/s thermals up to 4,000m, and cloudstreets up to Albania. Make no mistake, on any wind occasion, amazing flights were performed in many directions from Livno. The usual flying direction is northwest-southeast following the cloud line. Flights of up to 1,000km have been made (Boštjan Pristavec holds the current record) but the average flight distance is between 500-800km. The Livno soaring season usually lasts 2-3 months continuously over the summer, although the area presents huge potential for flying in any month of the year.
SGP tasks will be set in the vicinity of Livno airfield over the four main fields -- Livno, Tomislavgrad, Kupres and Glamoc field. Whole area provides very good thermal conditions, surrounded by medium slopes that give pilots nice opportunities for final glide back to the airfield. Position of the airfield is perfectly situated for the audience who can follow the race visually from the ground.
You can read more about flying from Livno at Hidden Soaring Paradise Coming to Light
Edvard Kristo
bosniaherzegovina22.sgp.aero