Further to the above posts #41 onwards, the French have published their long awaited details for conversion to EASA Part-FCL of their mountain qualifications and site qualifications for altiports and altisurfaces.
There’s no specific mention of non-French Part-FCL licence-holders in the above Arrêtè, but it should open the door for us.
Thanks Bosco, at the very least I owe you one good Belgian beer now! 
Thanks for confirmation.
For German speakers: I summarized the French airfields in and surrounding the Alps (excluding proper altiports) here.
@Jan: Since I am an FI, I can give you the sign-off for places like Albertville. You just have to pay me sufficiently.
Just joking!
It’s right, the French requirements for mountain qualification / site rating do not include microlights.
I had a 360 video camera hanging on the right side and thus the screen block screens were moved to the side. Other than that, the sun effect is mostly from the camera.
They were worried that people with bad intentions would stumble upon the discussions through search engines and may somehow be inspired or encouraged by them. Pretty far fetched if you ask me.
AeroPlus wrote:
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
I hope the camera exaggerated the blinding sun effect. Probably almost as bad as a friendly laser shining in your eyes on short final.
(P.s.: Why do they write “laser” in such a silly way on another well-known aviation forum?)
Only Chamois (Italy), but I don’t recall precisely what paperwork was involved.
Incidentally, Carcassonne is close to the Pyrenees, where the altisurfaces might be snow-free by the beginning of May. Could be a recipe for some mountain malarkey…
Jacko wrote:
I tried, but the UK CAA won’t budge without the conversion report.
I wonder how some guys managed to get the French rating recognised by the CAA (if you also read that on another aviation site) — if that’s what actually happened.
I guess that April 2018 will do just as well as any other month, if we’re spared…
Yep, I also don’t see a reason to rush for the EASA MOU rating. Doesn’t really have any practical implications to go with the national ratings.
Anybody here that knows anything about mountain flying in the Alps outside of France and Switzerland?
I tried, but the UK CAA won’t budge without the conversion report.
Switzerland is a nice idea, but a plate of filets de perche triples in price crossing the lake between Thonon and Ouchy, so this poor farmer has to keep his hands in his pockets when visiting the land which has an SG 550 guarding the cuckoo clocks and chocolate in every home
I guess that April 2018 will do just as well as any other month, if we’re spared…
If you’re determined to obtain the EASA MOU rating now, then the Swiss route might be a solution. Switzerland has already converted their schools to EASA ATOs, and many of them offer mountain flying training (often on 160-180 hp SuperCubs).
It therefore seems that completing a mountain flying course with a Swiss ATO would allow a pilot with a British CAA-issued license to obtain the coveted letter by Swiss FOCA (see my previous posting) and thus obtain the EASA MOU rating on his EASA license. (With a FOCA-issued EASA license the whole thing would be quite trivial.) I don’t know whether this route is also viable for somebody getting a French “qualification montagne” recognised in Switzerland (with a check flight, see below) — I reckon probably not.
A big part of the training for the wheels license necessarily takes place in the French Alps, as there’s only a single landing field for skis (Croix de Coeur, close to Verbier). Not only that, if not done completely in France, the skills test requires customs on both sides (Switzerland and France), and the same on the way back! Training for the skis license can be fully carried out in Switzerland, as there’s a good number of permitted glacier landing fields. The licensing office of the Swiss CAA (FOCA) is a pleasure to deal with and has competent people, good availability for questions (by email, phone, or letter), and very quick administrative turnaround times.
The paragraph in Swiss aviation law regulating the recognition of national mountain ratings (such as the French “qualification montagne”) may be found here:
Träger ausländischer Ausweise für Landungen im Gebirge dürfen solche Landungen in der Schweiz erst ausführen, nachdem ihre Eignung einem schweizerischen Motorfluglehrer, der Piloten in der Gebirgslandetechnik ausbilden darf, geprüft worden ist. Zwischenstaatliche Vereinbarungen bleiben vorbehalten.
It (roughly) states that a pilot with a non-Swiss mountain rating requires a check flight with a Swiss mountain flying instructor to be able. Special recognition agreements with other countries might exist (I’m not aware of any, particularly not with France).
A Swiss mountain flying instructor may thus conduct the check flight for recognition of a French “qualification montagne” in Switzerland. In practice I’m told that the check flight amounts to the full skills test, and usually a mountain flying examiner is going to give it.
