Our history
The ACD
at Alpe d'Huez
In the 1950s and 1960s, under our chief pilot Henri Giraud, the Aéro-Club du Dauphiné helped to open many new landing sites on the glaciers and slopes of the local mountains. One of the most important was at the local ski resort of Alpe d'Huez.
In 1959, Henri Giraud opened a basic grass strip (300 m x 20 m), roughly north-south, parallel to the Avenue du Rif Nel east of the resort. Then, from the winter of 1960, he reopened it, this time on snow, with the Piper “Choucas” and the ACD's first Mousquetaires. Giraud and his “mountain deputy” Berthet worked there energetically for almost ten years.
With the 1968 Winter Games approaching, things changed radically. Under pressure from the managers of the regional airline Air Alpes, who wanted to link Paris directly with the big ski resorts, a paved runway (565 m x 30 m) was built south-west/north-east on a more favourable site, especially for approach and take-off, with a spectacular control tower.
Huez became an altiport! Henri Giraud could develop all his activity there at leisure, with the ACD until he left the club in 1970, then independently until his death in 1999. The ACD took up the challenge of succeeding him in 2000, under its President Mr Peurois, assisted by vice-president René Grunberger and chief pilot Serge Blanc.
For several years, during the winter and summer tourist seasons, Pascale Valette flew sightseeing flights for the Aéro-Club du Dauphiné in the D140 Mousquetaire F-GJHU. In 2005, after Pascale was hired by Luxair, Serge Blanc asked Jack Porte, a local who knew the ground well, to fly the discovery flights and trial lessons for the ACD. Jack then became an FI/MI. From 2006 to 2012, with Jacqueline Giraud at the front desk, they worked as volunteers, full time and for all flights, discovery and instruction, at LFHU on behalf of the ACD. In 2012 they had the opportunity to set up their own mountain flying school with their Abeille F-HUEZ (an aptly named aircraft!), while keeping very good relations with the Dauphiné club.
Since 2022, the ACD no longer has its own activity at Huez. The chalet that was our home on the airfield was dismantled in 2023. We do, however, keep an agreement with the municipality for our aircraft movements on the airfield, following the flight paths defined by Jack Porte (see details on the Alpe d'Huez altiport page).
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