Useful airfield information and home of the forum's fuel price league tables.

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By denopa
#982437
Large, long, hard runway, recently repaired
No Customs
No Tower (auto info in French)
No commercial traffic (aeroclub and gliders)
No Landing or Parking fee
No PPR
Maintenance shop
Fuel by Total card
"Escadrille Orion" hangar worth a peek - they repair old aircrafts to amazing standards, including the finest Chipmunk I've seen in years, and a Cub used for D-Day
Taxi to town eur20 and 10min

We landed and parked there for a few days instead of the more expensive (can't beat free!) Bergerac since we had to stop overnight and went through Customs in Poitiers anyway. Listened to the radio from 10min out, no activity, flew overhead, no wind, no airplane moving, turned downwind for 29 and announced it on the radio; just then an instructuctor announced in French to his student "some guy preparing to land on 29, so hold for 11" - I landed and parked without drama, all very relaxed but safe as long as you talk and listen.
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By ChampChump
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#993142
This was the only place, over various tours, where we had anything stolen overnight. Just some camping equipment (we'd gone for the softy option in town) but a notable exception to many happy flying expeditions. The aeroclub is friendly and we regarded it as a minor glitch and very odd as the factory immediately next door had security staff on duty. The club did mention they had had the odd bovver from local yoof stealing from the bar and another visitor had lost his laptop one night (why leave such a thing in an aircraft?) so unless things have changed I would advise caution, whilst agreeing it's a great place to visit. Like most French only airfields...

The OH maintains they did us a favour as he doesn't like camping anyway...
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By GrahamB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#993160
denopa wrote:flew overhead, no wind, no airplane moving, turned downwind for 29 and announced it on the radio; just then an instructuctor announced in French to his student "some guy preparing to land on 29, so hold for 11" - I landed and parked without drama, all very relaxed but safe as long as you talk and listen.


... and read the AIP. :roll: :wink:

AIP wrote:Procedures and special instructions
Preferred QFU: 109°, due to noise pollution.
By denopa
#993193
GrahamB - you are correct, the aeroclub guys on the phone told me that it was prefered for t/o as the city is below the 29 climb.

ChamChump - very sorry to hear that, that's very disturbing.
For my info (just trying to understand how hard they looked for stuff) was the aircraft lock and the windows covered, could they have seen the equipment from outside?

re: camping, while France doesn't have as many class markers as England, camping is one of them - "proper" french people only camp when hiking :-)
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By ChampChump
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#993358
Well, having taken anything important with us, we hadn't made a huge attempt to cover up some very basic camping gear (cheap tent and two sleeping bags) although it was behind the seats of the 'see through Cessna', which doesn't lock readily. There'd be more damage from a break in than the easily accessible.

re: camping, while France doesn't have as many class markers as England, camping is one of them - "proper" french people only camp when hiking


Now we know our place, then.... :?
By denopa
#993806
You're not French, so it doesn't count,I was just explaining the OH's attitude! Sorry if that came across the wrong way.
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By ChampChump
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#995107
No offence taken. Probably used the wrong smiley thingy. Being a francophile, I find these social nuances are good to know... :)