exercise "Lord Mountain" 2010
Ljubljana-Brnik, Slovenia
Every year aircrew of the Hungarian and Slovenian Air Force come together for exercise ‘Lord Mountain 2010’. This year, the exercise took place from 6 - 17 September and is hosted by the 15 brigada helicopter battalion stationed at Ljubljana-Brnik airport. The Lord Mountain exercise was held for the ninth time since its existence in 2002 and came up as a Hungarian side idea. This year edition saw participation from a Slovenian AS.532AL Cougar (H3-71 or H3-72) and a Hungarian Mil Mi-24 (716) and Mil Mi-17 (707) both from MH.86 HE based at Szolnok, Hungary. The Hungarians flew the special painted Mi-24 (Csorike II) to Ljubljana-Brnik airport as they intestinally would bring a standard painted Mi-24, but due to some technical problems it could not depart Szolnok.
The purpose of the exercise is to train Hungarian aircrews in mountain flying, in which they are less experienced, at various altitudes. At the same time, the Slovenians are training new aircrew to become familiar with the Alps. The Slovenian aircrews exchange their knowledge on mountain flying with the Hungarian aircrew who are in preparation for an eventually upcoming deployment to Afghanistan, were mountain flying is much more common. The Lord Mountain exercises are part of a Slovenian - Hungarian defence exchange. In trade for the training in mountain flying, the Slovenian Armed Forces get usage of the ranges in Hungary, with their Pilatus PC-9 aircraft and Bell 412 and Cougar helicopters. Lord Mountain realized 23 hours in two week, that means 23 pilot flying hours in one week and 45 in total.
The article about "Lord Mountain" 2010 can be found in Air Forces Monthly, Aeronautica, Helicopter Life and PTISI magazine.
