Finding small airfields: gliding sites and ultralight fields on the map

Every spotter knows the big airports. But between them lie hundreds of small fields: grass runways with a club hangar, gliding sites on hilltops, ultralight fields at the edge of a farm field, factory airfields and public-use airfields with a tower and a fuel pump. They are home to types you rarely see at a major airport – from two-seat gliders to the Piper PA-18 Super Cub on tow duty. The problem: on ordinary road maps, many of these fields are just a green patch. This guide shows you how to find small airfields, gliding sites and ultralight fields on maps, how to classify them and what to sort out before your first visit.

The short answer

The most reliable way to find small airfields is through aviation sources instead of road maps. A free database like openAIP shows airfields, gliding sites and many ultralight fields on one map. The DFS’s ICAO chart and the AIP VFR provide the official data, and OpenStreetMap adds paths, fences and parking lots. Finally, the satellite image shows you where the runway lies and where you can watch from.

Before you search, it helps to know what you are actually looking for. In German aviation law, “airfield” is an umbrella term with clearly separated categories.

Which types of airfields exist

The Air Traffic Licensing Regulation divides airfields into airports, airfields (landing sites) and gliding sites. The airfields are split once more into two groups. For spotters, this classification is more than legal hairsplitting: it tells you what traffic to expect and how accessible the field is.

Field type	Who typically flies there	ICAO code	Operations	Spotter tip
Public-use airfield	Powered flight, business travel, flight schools, often helicopters too	usually available	fixed operating hours	easy to plan, often with a restaurant and spectator area
Special-purpose airfield	Clubs, company traffic, skydiving, towing	usually available	no obligation to stay open, outside arrivals often only with permission	check the operator’s website
Gliding site	Gliding with winch or aerotow, partly motor gliders and ultralights	often none	club operations, mainly on weekends	ideal for glider photos, avoid the winch line
Ultralight field	Ultralight aircraft, gyroplanes	sometimes available	varies widely	often a short grass runway, clarify access beforehand

Public-use airfields are meant for general air traffic and have fixed operating hours. There you see a colorful mix of single-engine trainers like the Cessna 172, touring aircraft and business jets.

Special-purpose airfields serve specific purposes. That can be a club’s flight operations, but also a factory airfield. The largest special-purpose airfield in Germany is the Airbus plant in Hamburg-Finkenwerder, where the test flights depart – more on that in the guide Tracking test flights and factory flights. At the other end of the scale is the Baltrum island airfield with a runway of only about 360 meters.

Gliding sites need their own permit and are almost always run by air sports clubs. Launches are by winch or aerotow. The permit can be extended to self-launching motor gliders, free balloons and air sports equipment such as ultralight aircraft; other powered aircraft are allowed only if they tow gliders or drop skydivers. If you want to get started yourself, you will find the basics in the article on the glider pilot license (SPL).

Ultralight aircraft may take off and land only at fields that are explicitly approved for them. That can be a dedicated ultralight field, a special-purpose airfield, a gliding site with an extension or a larger airfield. Some commercial airports allow ultralights as well. What pilots need for this class is explained in the guide to the ultralight license.

Source 1: The ICAO chart

The classic visual flight chart is the ICAO chart at a scale of 1:500,000, published in Germany by the DFS German Air Navigation Services. It is reissued every year. On top of the topographic base lies the air traffic overlay with airspaces, radio beacons, obstacles – and the airfields.

For finding airfields the chart is strong because it shows the fields by type with their own symbols. What each sign means is explained in the legend at the edge of the chart. How to read the chart as a whole is covered in the guide Reading the ICAO chart: the basics; the colored lines and areas around it are decoded in Recognizing airspaces on maps.

Two limitations: the paper chart costs money, and next to the symbols you find only basic information. For runway length, surface, operating hours or traffic pattern you need other sources.

Source 2: The DFS’s AIP VFR

The AIP VFR is the official aeronautical information publication for visual flight. The DFS provides it online, in German and English, with its own airfield search. The AD (Aerodromes) part contains the airfield data, the HEL AD part the heliports.

For airfields with an ICAO code you will usually find a visual approach chart there with runway direction, traffic pattern and taxiways. These charts are an excellent template for planning spotter positions: from the traffic pattern and runway direction you can work out where aircraft come in low over terrain on final approach. How such airfield charts are structured is shown in the article Reading AIP aerodrome charts.

The limit: many gliding sites and ultralight fields do not appear in the AIP at all or only briefly. For those you need the next sources.

Source 3: openAIP

openAIP is a worldwide, free-to-use aviation database maintained by a community. Besides airfields it contains airspaces, reporting points, obstacles, navigation aids and even launch sites for hang gliders. The data is under a Creative Commons license that allows non-commercial use.

For spotters, openAIP is often the quickest answer to the question “What flies around here?”: you zoom into your region and see public-use airfields, special-purpose airfields and gliding sites side by side, usually with runway direction, length and surface. Because volunteers maintain the data, you should double-check important details. A detailed walkthrough is in the guide openAIP for spotters.

Source 4: OpenStreetMap

In OpenStreetMap, airfields are tagged as aeroway=aerodrome. With aerodrome:type, mappers distinguish between international and regional airports, small airfields (airfield) and glider airfields (gliding). The tags icao and iata are added where available.

The real added value for spotters lies in the surroundings, though: farm tracks, fences, parking lots, viewing hills, restaurants and bus stops are often mapped more precisely in OSM than in any aviation product. If you want to go a bit deeper technically, you can filter all airfields in a region with an Overpass query. How that works and which map styles are suitable is covered in OpenStreetMap for spotters.

Source 5: Satellite imagery and search engines

Once you have found a candidate, the cross-check comes in the aerial photo. You recognize grass runways as a long, evenly mowed strip. Hangars, caravans and a launch trailer at the edge of the runway point to club operations. At gliding sites you sometimes see the winch at one end.

Just as useful: searching for the place name plus “gliding site”, “glider airfield” or “ultralight field”. Almost every club has a website with directions, flying hours and information for guests. How to use map services and Street View for advance scouting is described in the guide Exploring airports with satellite maps.

Recognizing the right field: codes, registrations, types

When searching you constantly run into abbreviations. A few basic rules help you sort them out:

• ICAO location indicators have four letters. Civil German fields generally start with ED, military ones with ET. Airfields with powered flight almost always have a code, many gliding sites do not. More on the system in the article IATA and ICAO codes explained.
• Registrations tell you the aircraft class. Pure gliders carry four digits instead of letters after the D-, motor gliders start with D-K, powered ultralight aircraft with D-M. The full overview is in German registrations and weight classes.
• Types like the Robin DR400 or the Piper PA-28 are everyday sights at club fields. For identifying them, the guide Recognizing light aircraft helps.

A caution for live tracking: gliders and many ultralights do not transmit ADS-B and therefore do not appear on the well-known flight tracker maps. Glider pilots use FLARM; its signals are evaluated by the Open Glider Network. How to follow them yourself is explained in the guide Receiving FLARM and OGN.

Step by step to a new field

For the weather, it is worth looking at the reports from the nearest larger airport – how to read them is shown in Reading METAR and TAF. You can also estimate wind and clouds for the region with Windy and other weather maps. And if you are looking for a day with guaranteed plenty of activity, check the overview of airfield festivals in Germany.

Which field type fits your goal?

What to watch out for on site

• The winch line is a restricted zone. In a winch launch, a long steel or synthetic cable runs along the whole length of the field. If it breaks or is released, it falls to the ground. Never stand in line with or under the cable path.
• Do not step onto the runway or taxiways. Even a grass runway without a fence is an operational area. Aircraft land there quietly and sometimes from an unexpected direction.
• Ask instead of just walking in. Club fields are private property. At the launch trailer or in the hangar, after a short question you often get more access than at any major airport.
• Park with consideration. Farm tracks and access roads must stay clear for agriculture and emergency services. Where you may stand in open countryside is explained in the article on the right of access.
• Know the basics. What is legally allowed at the fence is summarized in the article Is plane spotting legal?.

Building your own field map

Over time a personal map pays off: which fields have you visited, when was there activity, where did you have a good position, which registrations did you see there? How to combine spots and sightings with tools like Google My Maps or GPX files is shown in the guide Visualizing sightings on a map. For an introduction to the world of light aircraft in general, Spotting general aviation is recommended.

And if gliding really grabs you: at the Wasserkuppe in the Rhön, one of the most traditional gliding sites in Germany, you can combine a flying day with a visit to the German Gliding Museum.

Conclusion

Small airfields are easy to overlook but not hard to find – if you use the right maps. openAIP and OpenStreetMap give you the overview, the ICAO chart and AIP VFR the official details, the satellite image the lay of the land. What matters is understanding the field type: a public-use airfield has fixed hours, a gliding site lives on club operations and the weather. If you take that into account, ask politely and keep your distance from the runway and winch cable, you will discover a side of aviation that is missing at the major airport.