Le mercredi 18 novembre 2020 Ã* 00:00:08 UTC+1, Dave Walsh a écritÂ*:
"My experiences in France have been much better.
My understanding is that those systems are overseen/verified/inspected
by aircraft mechanics"
I'd be very surprised if the above was strictly correct for gliders in the

French Alps; generally it's the pilots who ensure they have a working
system. The important difference is that a working Flarm is MANDATORY
here in the French Alps.

No, Flarm is not really mandatory in the French Alps; a functioning Flarm is mandatory for all gliders flying in clubs that operate under the French Gliding Federation (FFVP). There are some places in the French Alps that operate on a (non-FFVP) commercial basis, or where there is no gliding club at all but you can get a tow or you can self-launch. Or you can start from an airfield outside France... I'd say 95% of the gliders you encounter in the Alps will have a functioning Flarm. More and more hang gliders and even paragliders have Flarm in the Alps.