Aviation Specials – May 2018

56 // Extreme Airports

retired), and our performance specialist

Ernst Wieser made their way to

Courchevel. Captains Hoch and Hitsch

initially got some experience fl ying around

the altiport in a Piper Super Cup and a

Pilatus Porter, while Ernst sharpened his

pencil and dusted off his calculator.

New ground

This visit was followed by an unprecedented

approval procedure – where else in the

world had a medium-sized commercial

aircraft taken off and landed on a runway

on a slope as steep as 18.5%? We were

breaking new ground, and it involved

extensive collaboration between the French

and Austrian aviation authorities.

After doing a lot of paperwork, fi nally the

time came for the fi rst Dash 7 fl ight into

Courchevel. It was operated by captains

Hoch and Hitsch, without passengers

of course. Measuring devices were set

up along the runway, and the aircraft

completed one circuit of the altiport after

another. Following each, a few more

sandbags were loaded onboard to add

extra weight. All the time, the three of us on

board were taking measurements, writing

reports, making calculations, updating logs

and photographing everything below. Even

French television was there to record these

pioneering trials. In total, around 40 circuits

were fl own during the approval procedure.

The French authorities also carried out

an audit of the airline, as they wanted to

know exactly how Tyrolean worked before

they would issue approval for operations

into CVF. I can still remember one of those

fl ights from Innsbruck to Graz, when

Captain Hitsch was in command, I was

the co-pilot, and we were accompanied in

the cockpit by a French fl ight inspector. To

this day, I recall how impressed I was as a

young fi rst offi cer when I found

the inspector’s ‘daytime job’ was fl ying

Concorde for Air France.

Everything went well and fi nally,

after two-and-a-half years, Tyrolean

received approval to fl y the Dash 7 into

Courchevel. Everyone involved had

pulled off a masterstroke.

Training

Regular fl ight operations began in 1987.

Of course, before this could happen our

line pilots had to be properly trained.

We could volunteer for the Courchevel

operation, although only captains were

accepted in the early days. Once they had

gained suffi cient experience, fi rst offi cers

were trained up too. There was never any

shortage of volunteers. Being allowed

to fl y to Courchevel was an honour, and

everyone wanted to be honoured.

COURCHEVEL

ABOVE: Skiers

can disembark

and be on the

slopes in minutes.

(Wikimedia

Commons / qwesy

qwesy)

BELOW: The

runway climbs

213 (65m) over

1,755 (535m),

with a maximum

gradient of 18.5%.

56-62_Courchevel.indd 56 11/05/2018 12:14