Courchevel: One of the Most Dangerous Airports

By Vilius Kirvaitis

Magnificent view of Courchevel valley

I you guys have seen it all in Flight Simulator 2002. You started using it from its very first version, you have gigabytes of freeware and payware downloads and you have stacked all manuals and charts on your desk. You have flown virtually any type of aircraft available, in all possible weather conditions, and you could land them all with your eyes closed... on flat and smooth runways!

But let me tell you something: you have not seen ultimate challenge yet! Let me invite you to Courchevel, one of the most dangerous altiports in the world, located in the French Alps. Despite all your skills and experience, let us see if you could walk away from your first landing! This is what I like most about the Flight Simulator -- even after decades of flying, you may still be surprised... It has no boundaries or limits, like the blue sky itself.

DeHavilland Dash 7 turning into the valley, with Courchevel airport left behind

Of course, you must have heard about Courchevel before. Most likely you have downloaded magnificent freeware DeHavilland Dash 7 by Milton Shupe et al (affectionately known as 'Milton's Dash 7') quite a while ago. And you have read an article "Dash 7 Pilot Training at Courchevel" by Captain Bernt Stolle, illustrated with real world photos. But do you remember frantically searching for Courchevel scenery in all major flight simulation websites? Unfortunately, it was not there. And you thought all runways were flat in FS, so Courchevel scenery was impossible.

Plain wrong, it appears! I realized that only when I accidentally stumbled upon DAD website -- Dangerous Airports Database, maintained by Phil Sauerteig. You will discover a wealth of breathtaking real photos and dangerous FS2002 sceneries there, but most importantly, it links to famous Courchevel scenery! Actually it has two links -- one for supposedly commercial scenery (but I failed to find it), and another for interesting French website 'High altitude airports of the Alps for FS2002'.

Ready for takeoff - note the photoreal wooden restaurant

There you will find a team of four enthusiasts who actually traveled the Alps, took shots of everything and meticulously recreated many altiports in FS2002, complete with realistic buildings, photo textures and slope runways! Yes, slope runways, where you can actually land! After downloading the scenery file including Megève, Courchevel, Méribel, and l'Alpe d' Huez altiports and four texture files, you have to proceed to yet another French website to get additional textures and AFCAD files (see complete file list at the end of this article). It was not immediately obvious, and became clear only after mixed Franco-English e-mail exchange with one of the 'Four Musketeers'. Also, for those who would like to make this adventure ultra-realistic, it is highly recommended to download payware Terra Mesh of East France available from LAGO. It is 57 MB download and costs 5 EUR, but it is worth every second of download time! Alternatively, lighter freeware mesh is also available here.

So in total, realistic Courchevel experience in FS2002 requires 85 MB of downloads, including Courchevel scenery, LAGO mesh and Milton's Dash 7 passenger version. (You may also go for more advanced Dash 7 cargo version, which is another 25 MB to download. Personally I prefer passenger version in Tyrolean livery coupled with better panel from cargo version.) But the thrill and excitement of adventure is totally rewarding! You will experience something you have never seen before in the Flight Simulator!

Courcheval tower gives takeoff clearance

I will not explain how to get there, as it is beyond the scope of this article. Closest major airport is Zurich Kloten (with reasonably good scenery available from MICE), so you may want to fly to Zurich first in your favorite jet airliner. Then jump into four engine turboprop Dash 7 and make a flight plan with FS Navigator 4.52, or use online charts. Courchevel visual approach chart can be downloaded from Dangerous Airports Database.

To experience the adrenaline rush immediately, it is best to start Dash 7 pilot training right away. Simply dial Courchevel ICAO code LFLJ into FS2002, placing Milton's Dash 7 on the runway 05. It is the only runway used for takeoff, with steep mountainside behind you. Likewise, only runway 23 can be used for landing. No missed approaches here -- or you simply crash into the mountain. (Therefore you may want to have a walk through Courchevel graveyard first.) For some reason you find your Dash 7 forward deployed too far, so you better ask for a pushback as you will need every inch of the runway.

Snowy peaks and clouds at runway level of 7,000 feet

You will be dazzled by surrounding view. Sitting at the level of 7000 feet, you marvel at picturesque mountain ranges in front of you and see few clouds beyond the edge of a cliff, at the far end of the runway. Actually the far end of the runway cannot be seen. This is because only the first part of the runway -- 150 meters or so -- is flat. Then you are going to roll 240 meters downhill with 18% slope, decreasing to 12% slope in the final 140 meters. You need to pull back sharply as soon as you reach white line painted at the end of the runway. Then you essentially jump from the edge of the cliff, losing some altitude. Landing in the opposite direction, you need to touch down on the same white line, in the shallower part of the runway. If you flare too much and slam into the steeper part, you are going to damage your landing gear in the best case.

Dash 7 rolling down 18% slope

Takeoff procedure was best described by Captain Bernt Stolle:

"Flaps are set to 25 degrees and the power is increased to 50% torque. Once this has been done the inboard engines go to 100%. [...] Brakes are released now and at the same moment V1 is being passed. If you want to abort the take-off one second after brake release, it would be too late to stop. You would enter the steep part of the runway and that would mean the end of your possibility to abort the take off. As you enter the steep part now during the take off run, the copilot increases the power on the outboard engines rapidly to100% torque. If this would be done earlier and an outboard engine running at full power would fail before the 'kink', you would simply loose the directional control of the plane. The rudder isn't effective at this low speed and the nose wheel would loose its traction upon entering the steep decline. The copilot now calls out speeds at every 5 knots and upon passing through the shallower part of the runway all three struts compress considerably and after that point rotation is initiated regardless of the speed. If the rotation rate is too slow you get airborne simply because there is no runway left and the main struts drop with a loud thump to their fully extended position. During a 'normal' take-off, you still fly away with about 1000-1500 fpm rate of descent! The left turn into the downwind is immediately begun for the next circuit."

Flying without a co-pilot in a simulator, it is hardly possible to maintain directional control with torque, unless you have differential throttle control device. Also, it is possible to liftoff without loosing altitude. So you retract landing gear and turn left 90 degrees, flying over deep Courchevel valley. Quick glance to the left captures Courchevel tower, fancy wooden restaurant and village buildings below the airport. To clear mountain peaks in your circuit you have to increase your altitude to 8500 feet or so. Then you fly short downwind, crosswind and turn final for visual approach to runway 23. No ILS or lighting aids are available, so you have to rely on your 1.00 mark eyeballs. Extend full 45 degrees flaps and gear and maintain airspeed around 80 KIAS. With moderate or higher turbulence you may get intermittent stall warning. Arm your spoilers.

On final approach to Courchevel

You want to touch down at the lowest possible speed. It is also important to judge approach altitude correctly. Too low -- and you will crash into the edge of the cliff. Too high -- and you will slam into the steeper part of the runway. It is also important to flare substantially to reduce the impact of the front gear. The trick is not to flare too much! Reverse thrust is applied as soon as front gear comes down. Dash 7 roars uphill, its front gear struts fully compressed. All done correctly, you will be able to stop in the upper flat part of the runway.

Let's walk through landing sequence once again together with Captain Bernt Stolle:

"Rolling out on final you look straight into a seemingly vertical runway. You have to fight the temptation to go below a 2-3 degree glideslope. The gear is extended, then flaps 25 and 45. Lots of nose down trimming with the mechanical trim wheel is required during flap extension. If you are too fast you sometimes even run out of trim. [...] Very soon the missed approach point is passed and you are now committed to land. If you have an engine failure now, or the runway is blocked, that's bad luck. Tower gives you the last very important wind information. Under some crosswind conditions you can experience a rather strong downdraft on final that not only destabilizes the approach but also exposes the aircraft to the danger of undershooting the runway. Unfortunately you can't afford that in Courchevel because ahead of the runway there is nothing but vertically dropping terrain. The consequences would be the same like a ramp strike at an aircraft carrier. The fuselage would break apart. Flaring too far on the other hand isn't a good idea either because the runway isn't really that long and landing in the steep part of the runway can damage and has damaged the landing gear seriously. So you better to get it perfectly right the first time! With that knowledge in your mind, tensions gets really high now as you approach the runway. The copilot now calls out every knot difference from Vref. Suddenly the threshold rushes below the runway, the power levers are slammed back into idle and with a fair amount of backpressure on the yoke the descent rate is being broken. Despite the long stroke landing gear, the touchdown is most of the time a teeth rattling experience."

As rattling of your teeth and shaking of your hands gradually comes to a stop, the tower is applauding and Courchevel restaurant is now wide open!

Touchdown is most of the time teeth rattling experience

Dash 7 roars uphill, front struts fully compressed, and finally comes to a stop

Tools Used

Commercial Software:

• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 Professional Edition
• Terra Mesh of East France by LAGO

Freeware Add-On Software:

• DeHavilland Dash 7 by Milton Shupe (DASH7V1.ZIP) - passenger version
• Alternatively, you may use more advanced Milton's Dash 7 cargo version 
• Courchevel scenery by Guy Nemoz, Jean-Louis Vau, Bernard Martin and Jean-Philippe Grange: ALTIPORTS.ZIP, TEXTURE_A.ZIP, TEXTURE_B.ZIP, TEXTURE_C.ZIP, TEXTURE_D.ZIP
• Required additional textures from "Aerodromes, Altisurfaces and Altiports" website: TEXTURES1.ZIP, TEXTURES2.ZIP
• AFCAD file from "Chez Moustache" website: ALTIPORTS_AFD.ZIP
• Instead of LAGO Terra Mesh you may download simpler freeware mesh: FREE_ALPES.ZIP

Many thanks to all these people for their quality add-ons. >Hope you've enjoyed reading this article.

Vilius Kirvaitis
iceman@post.5ci.lt