The Mountain Label

Federation news28 February 20183 min read

News of 28 February 2018. Last updated on 29 December 2020: some information may have changed. Latest news

The Mountain Label Our microlight pilot training courses do not contain a specific “mountain” module, and yet we are fortunate to have regulations that allow us to use these “goat or skier” strips, depending on the season, without too many administrative restrictions!

That is perfectly fine and we must keep things that way, especially since our light, quiet machines generally have performance that is particularly well suited to mountain flying.

However, you should know that mountain flying cannot be improvised: it has to be learned! Safety must be our absolute priority, for others and for ourselves, but also for the lifespan of our aircraft…!

That is why it is important to train properly in this particular discipline with the microlight instructors based at airfields in our mountain ranges.

List of mountain-labelled instructors

On this basis, FFPLUM and the AFPM (Association Française des Pilotes de Montagne), through their respective Presidents Dominique Méreuze and Noël Genet, wished to combine their respective skills by calling for the development of:

* a training “Course” for flying microlights in the mountains and the introduction of
* a “Label ” to recognise instructors competent to deliver this training programme.

Let us make clear straight away that there is no question of making this training “compulsory” for pilots wishing to fly in the mountains, still less of “forcing” new administrative rules on them (microlight pilots are responsible).

The aim is to allow them to acquire, “voluntarily”, through this training programme, new knowledge for safer microlighting in the mountains, with the certainty of finding passionate and qualified instructors who can give them quality teaching under the FFPLUM/AFPM label.

Resulting from this joint initiative between FFPLUM and the AFPM, this “Label” is the recognition of a skill and of compliance with a quality of training, based on a commitment by the “labelled” instructor to offer a programme of theoretical and practical mountain flying instruction as defined in the “Course”

Context of the training delivered

This formalisation provides a concise, though not exhaustive, teaching framework for the specific features of mountain flying.

As part of the training, the trainee/mountain pilot instructor pair will find in it a formal working basis, serving as a support for discussion during the theory explanations and practical exercises on each point of the course, with the aim of reaching sufficient knowledge for safer mountain flying with our microlights.

Awarding a label recognises a skill in teaching mountain flying and a commitment to respect the proposed teaching content.