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June 4, 2015 · 8:00 am

Fly Out: Les Châteaux de la Loire

Last weekend we took part together with my friend Raphaël and about 20 other members of the Airbus Aviation Society of Toulouse in a Fly Out (1) to Les Châteaux de la Loire. 7 aircraft departed from different airfields around Toulouse to reach Angers, some on Friday evening, some on Saturday morning. From then one we would enjoy some joint activities. In a nutshell:

On the way to Angers (LFJR, 2h50′ flight), we flew over some very beautiful villages such as Bruniquel, Saint Cirq Lapopie, etc.
On Saturday morning, in Angers we visited the castle and walked around the city. We then visited the museum Espace Air Passion.
We then took our aircraft and flew over dozens of castles along the Loire valley, from Angers to Chambord and back to Amboise (LFEF).
In Amboise we had an evening event with the local aeroclub.
The morning after and due to worsening meteorological conditions we decided to skip the “ground” visit to the Chenonceau castle (next time) and depart early back to Toulouse. In the way we stopped for lunch at Sarlat-Dome (LFDS) where we were very warmly welcome by some members of the local aeroclub.

I believe than rather than wandering with long texts explaining all of these experiences it is better to share some of the pictures we took and let you fly along with us with some captions:

Waiting for the departure time at Toulouse Lasbordes (LFCL).

Dashboard of the Robin DR-48 we flew (F-GGHT). (2)

Bruniquel.

Saint Cirq Lapopie. (3)

La Roque Gageac.

Beynac et Cazenac.

Rapha, concentrated in his piloting.

Arriving at Angers (LFJR) rather late.

If you arrive at Angers airport in the evening, you’d better know the theory if you want to get out.

Château d’Angers, founded by the Counts of Anjou.

“Apocalypse Tapestry” at Angers castle.

Visiting the museum “Espace Air Passion” at Angers airport. (4)

“Why is Rapha at the controls again, daddy? When do I get to pilot?!”

Chenonceau.

Chambord.

Andrea, a born flyer, and Luca, getting over it.

Great evening event organized by the “Aéro-club Les Ailes Tourangelles”. (5)

Our commandan de bord, Raphael preparing the next flight.

Our commandant de bord, Raphael preparing the next flight.

The fellows from the “Aeroclub du Sarladais” got out those table, parasols and chairs for us to have lunch with them. (5)

Relaxing at Sarlat-Dome aerodrome (LFDS).

Initial climb at Sarlat-Dome (LFDS), wonderful view of the Dordogne valley and Dome village.

Rocamadour.

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(1) The term we use for an organized activity in which several aircraft depart together with a common destination.

(2) Check out about the DR-48 here.

(3) Recently selected as the most beautiful village of France.

(4) Be sure that I will dedicate another post about this museum.

(5) If you plan to fly either to Amboise Dierre or Sarlat-Dome, do not hesitate in contacting the local aeroclubs (Les Ailes Tourangelles and Aeroclub du Sarladais, respectively), they will give you a more than warm welcome!

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Filed under Aerospace & Defence, France, Travelling

Tagged as Airbus Aviation Society, Amboise, Angers, aviation, Beynac et Cazenac, Bruniquel, Chambord, Chenonceau, Dome, fly out, La Roque Gageac, Les Châteaux de la Loire, Robin DR-48, Rocamadour, Saint Cirq Lapopie, Sarlat

August 5, 2012 · 11:00 am

Flying to Corsica (1/3)

About 3 months ago, my colleague Asier and I went together with his instructor, Jean Louis, to Corsica for a weekend fly out, an activity of our club the Airbus’ Aviation Society.

The experience was terrific in several ways. I learnt a lot about flying and navigation the days prior to the fly out and during the trip. The views along the way by southern coastal France were superb. We enjoyed good weather despite of what had been announced and even found time to do some tourism and trekking in the island. But let’s go back to the flight.

On the way to Corsica, we made one stop at Cuers to refuel the aircraft and change pilot. Asier would start from Toulouse and I would continue to Corsica. On the way back, Asier would fly over the sea all the way to Alès and I would fly over Millau on the way to Toulouse.

I’ll try to be brief with the explanations and generous with the pictures to give you a flavour of how the French Mediterranean coast looks like. Because of the number of pitures I want to share, I will distribute them in 3 different blog posts, starting with this one dedicated to the first flight.

Flight 1 (Asier at the controls): Toulouse Lasbordes – Carcassone – Narbonne – Sète – Montpellier – Saintes Maries de la Mer – Fos-sur-Mer – Marseille – Cassis – Le Castellet – Toulon – Cuers

I encourage you to take a look at a map of France coast at the same time you are watching the pictures and try to identify the places (you may see the route at the bottom of the post as recorded by my Garmin).

See the life vests (yellow bags) at hand in case of emergency ready at hand. Jean Louis would have his vest always on. In case of emergency he would take the control buying us time to get ours on.