Mountain flying
Mountain
airstrips
In addition to altiports, France allows mountain airstrips (altisurfaces) to be created. An altisurface is a mountain landing strip for aeroplanes that is not an altiport. These are sites in the mountains that may be used by certain aircraft for aerial work, on-demand transport or non-commercial air operations. They are approved by prefectoral order and restricted to pilots with appropriate training and ratings flying suitable aircraft.
Unlike an altiport, an altisurface is not an aerodrome in the legal sense. It has no ICAO or IATA code, but is listed instead by what Americans call a LID (location identifier), in the form LFddnn, where dd is the number of the département where the altisurface lies and nn its rank in the order of approvals for that département.
Example: the Escoulin mountain airstrip (LF2624)
Mountain airstrip
of Escoulin (LF2624)
It is said that the Escoulin mountain airstrip was created so that the Allies could support the French Resistance forces (FFI) in…
Mountain airstrip
of Superdévoluy
Superdévoluy on skis. Even in summer the strip is not easy to find, but with snow… And if there is not too much wind,…
Mountain airstrip
of Mens (LF3828)
Mountain airstrip
of Saint-Sorlin
Saint-Sorlin below the Col des Quirlies, early on a winter morning. The snow crunches, and so do your nostrils. Later in the day, a few too many…
Mountain airstrip
of Le Lombard
At the top of Le Lombard. Michel Blondeau has just pulled it off: landing exactly in his previous tracks, in the fresh snow. A slice of…
Mountain airstrip
of La Girose
Landing on the Dôme de la Lauze, near the Girose glacier, not far from La Grave. Westerly crosswind, a short de-crab! Camera (and…
Mont
Blanc
Around Mont Blanc. To fly over Mont Blanc, ask for specific training. Do not venture into this environment without instruction…