COURCHEVEL
58 // Extreme Airportscontinued over Moûtiers, and entered the
airfield traffic pattern.
At an altitude of around 7,500ft, we
turned onto final approach. The altiport
was equipped with a VASI, a Visual
Approach Slope Indicator light signals
that show pilots the optimal angle to make
an approach. It was advisable to stay
exactly on the correct decent profile. If
you needed to increase power, the Dash
could interpret this as a go-around and
would automatically retract the flaps from
the full 45o to 25o. Then, as you reduced
power, the flaps would extend again. This
resulted in rather unpleasant ballooning,
which needed to be carefully controlled.
Absolutely precision was required.
If you are used to approaching runways
that are as flat as a pancake, and suddenly
find yourself approaching a steeply sloping
mountain airfield, it’s easy to get the illusion
of being far too high. So, I always tried to
focus on a point, roughly in the middle of
the first 450ft (137m), on the 12.5% gradient.
The end of the runway was built on a
mound, and I always had great respect for
the threshold. I preferred touching down
further up to avoid hitting the mound with
the landing gear.
Shortly before landing, Annette, the
highly likeable lady in the tower, would
send us a message in her charming localaccent: “The rrunway is clearr, and the
coffee is rready.”
Just before touchdown, it was necessary
to pull [the control column back] more
than would be usual on a flat runway. It
wasn’t a problem to land on the steeper
part of the runway where the gradient
was 18.5% – you just had to pull slightly
more. I never wanted to stop on the slope
to see how much power I would need to
start moving again, so I always aimed to
arrive with sufficient speed. When we
got to the top Patrick, our ‘apron guy’ who
worked for TAT, was waiting to guide usto our parking position. Once most of the
preparations for the return flight were
complete, there was usually enough time
left to drop in on Annette (a pensioned-off
Flying Doctors pilot) to enjoy a cup of her
highly rated coffee.
As part of our flights from Innsbruck,
we often had to stay in Courchevel all day
and we were allocated rooms in a nearby
hotel. It seemed like every hotel wanted the
honour of putting the Tyrolean crews up, so
they agreed between themselves where we
would be accommodated each weekend- everything always worked perfectly. The
only problem was that, due to the risk of
injury, we weren’t allowed to go skiing.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t
always good enough for us to fly direct
to Courchevel in visual conditions, and
in these situations we made an initial
instrument approach into Chambéry
Airport. If the view was adequate below
the cloud cover, we then flew along the
valley to Courchevel – meteorological
reports from local weather stations
proved a valuable aid to our decision-
making. If the weather was really bad, we
landed in Chambéry and the guests were
transported to the slopes by coach. We
took hotel rooms locally, and if conditions
brightened up we ferried the aircraft to CVF
so the passengers could fly home direct.
RIGHT: The author
stands in the snow
during one of the
many turnarounds
he made in
Courchevel.
(Captain Gerhard
Beer)
BELOW:
Spectators watch
a Dash 7 make
an approach up
the valley. (Markus
Herzig)Being allowed to fly
to Courchevel was seen
as an honour
56-62_Courchevel.indd 58 11/05/2018 12:14